The value, under conventional evaluation, of the expression '() is (), which is the empty list. This '() expression itself is the object (quote ()) which is anything but nil.
The nil-()-false correspondence is only specific to the Lisp dialects which are close to the original tree. In Scheme, an empty list is indeed (), and this object also the terminating atom of a list. However, the object isn't a symbol at all, let alone the symbol nil. Moreover, the object isn't a Boolean false; Scheme has #f for that.
The nil-()-false correspondence is only specific to the Lisp dialects which are close to the original tree. In Scheme, an empty list is indeed (), and this object also the terminating atom of a list. However, the object isn't a symbol at all, let alone the symbol nil. Moreover, the object isn't a Boolean false; Scheme has #f for that.