If I query for an object say for an Animal and the returned object is not null but contains null variables is that wrong? For instance I can call `animal.getDeathDate()`; and since it's not dead yet it returns null. For a Turtle `getFlightSpeed()` would return null since it's unable to fly until it has the Turtle rocket pack added. Etc, etc. I thought that this was a bad way to do things as it will often cause the need for a lot of null checks while calling the methods of the object to verify that they contain non-null values. Are there any links to information about this that could inform both myself and my coworkers further?
You may want the Null Object pattern.