---
id: LANG-8
family: GR-LANG
level: core
profiles: [runtime]
posture: normative-target
added: "1.0"
changed: "1.0"
source: https://flowdrop.io/spec/rules/gr-lang/lang-8
specification: FlowDrop Workflow Specification 1.0-draft
licence: CC BY 4.0
---

# LANG-8 — A property path that cannot be read yields null

*GR-LANG (Part I) · level: core · profiles: runtime · added in 1.0*

Property paths trade diagnosis for calm: nothing raises, and a reader cannot tell a missing value from a stored one.

## The rule

> **Normative.** This is the rule.
>
> 1. Property-path evaluation never raises.
>
> 2. A path that cannot be read yields null, which is indistinguishable from a path that reads a stored null.

## Related rules

- Referenced by: LANG-6, LANG-9, LANG-24, LANG-20

---

Rule identifiers are permanent and are never renumbered. This specification carries
no implementation status: each implementation publishes its own standing against
these rules. Licensed CC BY 4.0.