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It seems to me that the code
console.log(1 / 0) should return NaN, but instead it returns Infinity. However this code:
console.log(0 / 0) does return NaN. Can someone help me to understand the reasoning for this functionality? Not only does it seem to be inconsistent, it also seems to be wrong, in the case of x / 0 where x !== 0
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In IEEE 754 arithmetic, a ÷ +0 is positive infinity when a is positive, negative infinity when a is negative, and NaN when a = ±0. The infinity signs change when dividing by −0 instead. The justification for this definition is to preserve the sign of the result in case of arithmetic underflow.
The output of the code in JavaScript is as follows: Dividing the number 0 by 0 returns NaN. Dividing the positive number by 0 returns Infinity. Dividing the negative number by 0 returns -Infinity.
It is greater than any other value, and you can get it by dividing by 0 or by evaluating the expression of a number that's so big that overflows. This actually means there is no division by 0 errors in JavaScript, there is Infinity!
Because that's how floating-point is defined (more generally than just Javascript). See for example:
Crudely speaking, you could think of 1/0 as the limit of 1/x as x tends to zero (from the right). And 0/0 has no reasonable interpretation at all, hence NaN.
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