[Seb-C]

Sum types are a different issue (even if somewhat related) than what I am talking about.

Even if sum types were introduced, it would not help with nil values because - as you said - backward compatibility won't be broken.

If I had the luxury of spare time to contribute, I would probably spend it switching away to another richer language instead, because it would be cheaper, solve more of my problems and with a higher degree of certainty. And that's not even mentioning the attitude and toxicity of the community compared to most of other languages facing critics and ideas.

[xyzzy_plugh]

What toxicity? This doesn't track for me.

> backward compatibility won't be broken.

I'm not sure what your point is anymore. You are clearly divested. Your assessment is totally unfounded. What are you trying to accomplish here?

[Seb-C]

Personal attacks are not welcome and against HN guidelines.

You can disagree with me and criticize my points, but I do not feel like it's done in a good faith or is leading to anything constructive.

So I'm going to stop the discussion here and let the readers judge by themselves what I meant, and what to conclude about it.

[xyzzy_plugh]

I mean no ill intent, I genuinely have no idea what you're arguing towards. You repeatedly claim dogma and even toxicity (!) where I can find no evidence of either -- that certainly doesn't feel like good faith to me. It feels like FUD.