On: What if null was an Object in Java?

[codebje]

I might choose to rephrase that as "the problem is, some of these languages think that "" and null are equal." :-)

[goatlover → codebje]

Isn't the lack of strict equality a result of loose typing in those languages?

[codebje → goatlover]

Maybe - often more to do with overeager coercion, which does tend to go hand in hand with loose typing.