>>> NoneType
NameError: name 'NoneType' is not defined
>>> type(None)
NoneType

>>>type('')
<class ''str'>

>>> def has_no_return():
...     pass
>>> has_no_return()
>>> print(has_no_return())
None

>>> NoneType = type(None)
>>> id(None)
10748000
>>> my_none = NoneType()
>>> id(my_none)
10748000
>>> another_none = NoneType()
>>> id(another_none)
10748000
>>> def function_that_does_nothing(): pass
>>> return_value = function_that_does_nothing()
>>> id(return_value)
10748000

>>> print(bar)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'bar' is not defined
>>> bar = None
>>> print(bar)
None

def bad_function(new_elem, starter_list=[]):
    starter_list.append(new_elem)
    return starter_list

>>> class DontAppend: pass
...
>>> def good_function(new_elem=DontAppend, starter_list=None):
...     if starter_list is None:
...         starter_list = []
...     if new_elem is not DontAppend:
...         starter_list.append(new_elem)
...     return starter_list
...
>>> good_function(starter_list=my_list)
['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
>>> good_function(None, my_list)
['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', None]