title: Should I allow null values in a db schema?
body: <p>I know that logically, there are some cases where NULL values make sense in a DB schema, for example if some values plain haven't been specified. That said, working around DBNull in code tends to be a royal pain. For example, if I'm rendering a view, and I want to see a string, I would expect no value to be a blank string, not "Null", and I hate having to code around that scenario. </p>
  
  <p>Additionally, it makes querying easier. Admittedly, you can do "foo is not null" very easily, but for junior SQL devs, it's counter intuitive to not be able to use "foo != null" (and yes, I know about options to turn off ANSI nulls, etc, but that's definitely NOT simpler, and I don't like working away from the standard).</p>
  
  <p>What good reason is there for having/allowing nulls in a database schema?</p>