[c] What is the difference between NULL, '\0' and 0?

NULL is not guaranteed to be 0 -- its exact value is architecture-dependent. Most major architectures define it to (void*)0.

'\0' will always equal 0, because that is how byte 0 is encoded in a character literal.

I don't remember whether C compilers are required to use ASCII -- if not, '0' might not always equal 48. Regardless, it's unlikely you'll ever encounter a system which uses an alternative character set like EBCDIC unless you're working on very obscure systems.

The sizes of the various types will differ on 64-bit systems, but the integer values will be the same.


Some commenters have expressed doubt that NULL be equal to 0, but not be zero. Here is an example program, along with expected output on such a system:

#include <stdio.h>

int main () {
    size_t ii;
    int *ptr = NULL;
    unsigned long *null_value = (unsigned long *)&ptr;
    if (NULL == 0) {
        printf ("NULL == 0\n"); }
    printf ("NULL = 0x");
    for (ii = 0; ii < sizeof (ptr); ii++) {
        printf ("%02X", null_value[ii]); }
    printf ("\n");
    return 0;
}

That program could print:

NULL == 0
NULL = 0x00000001

Examples related to c

conflicting types for 'outchar' Can't compile C program on a Mac after upgrade to Mojave Program to find largest and second largest number in array Prime numbers between 1 to 100 in C Programming Language In c, in bool, true == 1 and false == 0? How I can print to stderr in C? Visual Studio Code includePath "error: assignment to expression with array type error" when I assign a struct field (C) Compiling an application for use in highly radioactive environments How can you print multiple variables inside a string using printf?

Examples related to pointers

Method Call Chaining; returning a pointer vs a reference? lvalue required as left operand of assignment error when using C++ Error: stray '\240' in program Reference to non-static member function must be called How to convert const char* to char* in C? Why should I use a pointer rather than the object itself? Function stoi not declared C pointers and arrays: [Warning] assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast Constant pointer vs Pointer to constant How to get the real and total length of char * (char array)?

Examples related to null

getElementById in React Filter values only if not null using lambda in Java8 Why use Optional.of over Optional.ofNullable? How to resolve TypeError: Cannot convert undefined or null to object Check if returned value is not null and if so assign it, in one line, with one method call How do I assign a null value to a variable in PowerShell? Using COALESCE to handle NULL values in PostgreSQL How to check a Long for null in java Check if AJAX response data is empty/blank/null/undefined/0 Best way to check for "empty or null value"