[tome]

I agree! I'm just saying there's no theoretical reason for null not to be typed (which is quite different from Optional).

[cle]

Then we agree :). From a correctness perspective, nulls are awful.

My point was not specifically aimed at typed nulls and compiler optimization, it was that there will always be practical constraints that force us to compromise static guarantees in order to get things done in a reasonable amount of time. As software engineers, our problems are first practical before they are theoretical.