Correct, NULL is NULL, if the system is designed that it has to have a default value it should at least scream at you "I can't do NULL, you are going to get a 0 here". Or better yet just error at design time, not run time, and say sorry put a value here I don't do NULL. Run-time errors are the worst kind of errors and it is little unexpected behaviors like that, that can create huge problem in a run time environment.