Notanumber definition

Notanumber





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From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  Not-a-Number
       
           (NaN) An {IEEE floating point} representation
          for the result of a numerical operation which cannot return a
          valid number value.  A NaN can result from multiplying an
          infinity by a zero, or from subtracting one infinity from


          another [what else?].
       
          NaN is encoded as a special {bit pattern} [what pattern?]
          which would otherwise represent a {floating-point} number.  It
          is used to signal error returns where other mechanisms are not
          convenient, e.g. a hardware {floating-point unit} and to allow
          errors to propagate through a calculation.
       
          Similar bit patterns represent positive and negative
          {overflow} and {underflow} and the positive and negative
          infinities resulting from {division by zero}.
       
          {Bit patterns
          (http://www.psc.edu/general/software/packages/ieee/ieee.html)}.
       
          [ANSI/IEEE Std 754-1985].
       
          [Correct?]
       
          (2001-04-01)
       
       

















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