Infinity

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Revision as of 22:56, 7 May 2008 by Sudleyplace (talk | contribs) (New page: <p>The two infinities are now valid values to be used as numeric limits. The infinity symbol (<apll>∞</apll>) is entered from the keyboard using the key combination '''Alt-f'''. The ot...)
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The two infinities are now valid values to be used as numeric limits. The infinity symbol () is entered from the keyboard using the key combination Alt-f. The other infinity is obtained from the positive form by preceding it with a negative symbol (¯∞). The underbar symbol (_) is an alias for the infinity symbol on entry; however, when displaying the variable that contains an infinity, is used.

For example,

      ⌊/⍬

      ⌈/⍬
¯∞

      9*999

      ÷0

      ÷¯∞ ∞
0 0

      ¯_ _ ¯∞ ∞
¯∞ ∞ ¯∞ ∞

There are many cases that need to be examined to see how infinity should behave; this work has yet to be done, so you might notice some anomalous results using infinity.

Also, see the description of the system variable ⎕IC (Indeterminate Control) for a way to control how infinity along with other indeterminates are handled.