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Re: NaN

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On 08/29/2011 08:49 AM, HENRY Eshbaugh wrote:
> IME the NaN is the result of an error raised when you try to operate
> on it.
> 
> But that's just Python talking.

Your subject line contains "Re:", implying that it's a response to some
other message with a Subject: of "NaN". However, your message headers
don't indicate which message it's a response to, and a Google Groups
search turns up no obvious candidates. Is this just a random comment?

It would be more appropriate to say that a NaN indicates a special case,
rather than an error. You can write code that detects the special case,
and avoids performing a calculation that might otherwise result in
creation of a NaN. However, when using a system known to produce
non-signaling NaN's when appropriate, it can be entirely appropriate to
write code which relies upon that behavior (it can also be a big
mistake, depending upon the context). It's often more convenient to deal
with special cases by detecting a NaN, rather than by avoiding creation
of the NaN.

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Re: NaN HENRY Eshbaugh <henryeshbaugh@gmail.com> - 2011-08-29 05:49 -0700
  Re: NaN James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-08-29 11:42 -0400
    Re: NaN Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2011-08-29 11:27 -0700
      Re: NaN James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-08-29 15:49 -0400
    Re: NaN HENRY Eshbaugh <henryeshbaugh@gmail.com> - 2011-08-29 21:09 -0700
      Re: NaN Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2011-08-30 02:36 -0700

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