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Refine null-safety documentation terms #34982

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@sdeleuze

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@sdeleuze

Before this change, Spring Framework 7 null-safety documentation was only using "null-safety" and "nullness" terms, but not always in the right context. Also "nullability" was not used despite being a popular term.

With this change, we try to reach a consensus with the following concepts and vocabulary:

  • Null-safety is the outcome/benefit we want to achieve.
  • Nullability refers to APIs, fields and refers to a way to express the possible absence of value via @Nullable annotations and can be used to describe the problem space.
  • Nullness is the lowest level concept, it applies to Java types (see related JEP draft) and JSpecify annotations which chose to use that term. It is also used on purpose in the Spring Nullness API.

In practice, "nullability" or "nullness" can usually be use interchangeably.

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in: coreIssues in core modules (aop, beans, core, context, expression)type: documentationA documentation task

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