10-none.com
none
None means nothing, zero, or not any. A person says none to say that something is absent or that no option applies.
What a model may hear
- null value programming and databases
- treat the input as a null or missing value, skip a field, or return empty results
- no selection user interfaces and forms
- clear a choice, leave a setting unset, or disable a feature
- none type Python and type systems
- expect or return a NoneType object, enforce a type constraint, or flag a missing return value
- no access permissions and security
- deny all rights, block a request, or set an ACL to empty
Where people and models part ways
“I want none of that”
Meant: reject everything offered
May be taken as: treat as a null assignment or delete a variable
Say instead: “reject all of the options”
“none worked”
Meant: nothing from a list succeeded
May be taken as: return NoneType or stop execution
Say instead: “none of the attempts succeeded”
“set it to none”
Meant: make the field blank
May be taken as: assign a null that breaks later logic
Say instead: “leave the field blank or empty”
“none for me”
Meant: I do not want any
May be taken as: pass None as a function argument
Say instead: “I do not want any”
Tips
- Say blank or empty instead of none when you mean an empty field
- Say nothing or zero when you mean the quantity
- Say no or reject when you want to refuse an option
- Avoid none as a standalone answer to a multiple-choice question
- If you mean Python's None, say the Python null value explicitly
Often confused with
- null
- null is the database and JSON term for missing data
- zero
- zero is a number, none is the absence of anything
- empty
- empty means a container exists but holds nothing
- false
- false is a Boolean value, not an absence
- nil
- nil is Ruby and Go's version of null
- void
- void means no return type in C-like languages