title: Why is null not an object in Java, if it can be assigned to any reference type?
body: <p>My first question is does the null literal have a reference type? I am confused on if null has no reference type, or the null literal does have a data type, but there is no name for it. Either way as a literal, null can be of any reference type. If null can be assigned to any Object type, why can null not be an object itself? Even a String literal is an object itself in Java. Every reference type is able to make an Object in Java, then should not the same be applied to null?</p>