Re: Use cases for quiet NaN comparison?

From: "*** T. Winter" <***.Winter@xxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 12:32:35 GMT

In article <78c84950-3bf2-43b9-810d-feff1b3ac250@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Adam Olsen <rhamph@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
....

I'm aware of the behaviour IEEE 754 requires (as best I can be,
without having my own copy of it.) However, I'm not aware of any
rationale for the behaviour. It seems to be a Parable of the Monkeys.

Can anybody enlighten me?

Why do you think it makes sense to compare something that is not a number
with a number? Anyway, the appearance of a NaN in a calculation shows
that something has gone fundamentally wrong in a calculation, and the NaN
is an out of band signal to indicate this.
--
*** t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924131
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~***/
.

Follow-Ups:
- Re: Use cases for quiet NaN comparison?
  - From: Richard Tobin
- Re: Use cases for quiet NaN comparison?
  - From: David R Tribble

References:
- Use cases for quiet NaN comparison?
  - From: Adam Olsen

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