Why can't I check if a 'DateTime' is 'Nothing'?

Question

In VB.NET, is there a way to set a DateTime variable to \"not set\"? And why is it possible to set a DateTime to Nothing, but not<

Answer 1

DateTime is a value type, which is why it can't be null. You can check for it to be equal to DateTime.MinValue, or you can use Nullable(Of DateTime) instead.

VB sometimes "helpfully" makes you think it's doing something it's not. When it lets you set a Date to Nothing, it's really setting it to some other value, maybe MinValue.

See this question for an extensive discussion of value types vs. reference types.