`Unit` is not like `void` at all, it's just an ord...

# announcements

[karelpeeters]

Unit is not like void at all, it's just an ordinary singleton object.

[yawkat]

the point is that Unit is more "special" than Nothing. Nothing can always be translated to java.lang.Void. Unit is sometimes translated to void.

[yawkat]

this doesnt explain why Array<Nothing?> is disallowed. It is just as inhabited as Array<Unit>.

[karelpeeters]

Unit is not translated to void. As I said, Array<Unit> makes perfect sense, eg. arrayOf(Unit, Unit) is an array that contains two normal object instances.

[yawkat]

Unit is translated to void for return values. Array<Nothing?> makes just as much sense as Array<Unit>, yet it is illegal.

[karelpeeters]

Unit is not translated to void for return values, if you call a Unit-returning function you actually get the Unit instance back. You can see this if you override a Kotlin funtion in Java, you manually have to return Unit.INSTANCE at the end.

[yawkat]

No that is not true https://javap.yawk.at/#3gV0QE/procyon

[yawkat]

it is only the case for generics