From: Caleb Clausen <vikkous@...>
Date: 2006-07-23T08:40:43+09:00
Subject: Re: Infinity

On 7/22/06, Marcel Molina Jr. <marcel@vernix.org> wrote:
> Infinity = 1.0/0
>
> (N.B. Doesn't work on all platforms.)

Does anyone know a definition for Infinity that does work on all
platforms? Here's what I use; I have no idea how robust it really is:

  Infinity= begin
    result= [ Float::MAX**Float::MAX, Float::MAX**2,  Float::MAX*2].max
    result.infinite? ? result : result=1.0/0
  rescue: Float::MAX  #maybe 1.0/0 doesn't work on some systems?
  end unless defined? Infinity

  #there's also this way:
999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999e99999999999999999
  #but stuff like that sometimes returns zero, so it doesn't seem as reliable.
  #(plus it generates a warning)