The resource rdf:nil is an instance of rdf:List that can be used to represent an empty list
or other list-like structure.
<rdf:List rdf:about="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#nil">
<rdfs:isDefinedBy rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"/>
<rdfs:label>nil</rdfs:label>
<rdfs:comment>The empty list, with no items in it. If the rest of a list is nil then the list has no more items in it.</rdfs:comment>
</rdf:List>
L rdf:rest rdf:nil states that L is an instance of rdf:List
that has one item; that item can be indicated using the rdf:first property.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:s="http://example.org/students/vocab#">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://example.org/courses/6.001">
<s:students rdf:nodeID="sch1"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:nodeID="sch1">
<rdf:first rdf:resource="http://example.org/students/Amy"/>
<rdf:rest rdf:nodeID="sch2"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:nodeID="sch2">
<rdf:first rdf:resource="http://example.org/students/Mohamed"/>
<rdf:rest rdf:nodeID="sch3"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:nodeID="sch3">
<rdf:first rdf:resource="http://example.org/students/Johann"/>
<rdf:rest rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#nil"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>