Why is “null” present in C# and Java?

Question

We noticed that lots of bugs in our software developed in C# (or Java) cause a NullReferenceException.

Is there a reason why \"null\" has even been included in the l

Answer 1

One response mentioned that there are nulls in databases. That's true, but they are very different from nulls in C#.

In C#, nulls are markers for a reference that doesn't refer to anything.

In databases, nulls are markers for value cells that don't contain a value. By value cells, I generally mean the intersection of a row and a column in a table, but the concept of value cells could be extended beyond tables.

The difference between the two seems trivial, at first clance. But it's not.