##### cppreference.com

##### Search

Create account

##### Namespaces

- Page
- Discussion

##### Variants

##### Views

- View
- Edit
- History

##### Actions

# std::numeric_limits::quiet_NaN

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | types‎ | numeric limits

static T quiet_NaN(); |  | (until C++11)
static constexpr T quiet_NaN(); |  | (since C++11)

Returns the special value "quiet not-a-number", as represented by the floating-point type `T`. Only meaningful if std::numeric_limits<T>::has_quiet_NaN == true. In IEEE 754, the most common binary representation of floating-point numbers, any value with all bits of the exponent set and at least one bit of the fraction set represents a NaN. It is implementation-defined which values of the fraction represent quiet or signaling NaNs, and whether the sign bit is meaningful.

### [edit] Return value

`T` | std::numeric_limits<T>::quiet_NaN()
/* non-specialized */ | `T();`
bool | false
char | ​0​
signed char | ​0​
unsigned char | ​0​
wchar_t | ​0​
char16_t | ​0​
char32_t | ​0​
short | ​0​
unsigned short | ​0​
int | ​0​
unsigned int | ​0​
long | ​0​
unsigned long | ​0​
long long | ​0​
unsigned long long | ​0​
float | NAN or another implementation-defined NaN
double | implementation-defined
long double | implementation-defined

### [edit] Exceptions

(none) | (until C++11)
`noexcept` specification: noexcept | (since C++11)

### [edit] Notes

A NaN never compares equal to itself. Copying a NaN may not preserve its bit representation.

### [edit] Example

Several ways to generate a NaN (the output string is compiler-specific)

Run this code

    #include <iostream>
    #include <limits>
    #include <cmath>

    int main()
    {
        std::cout << std::numeric_limits<double>::quiet_NaN() << ' '
                  << std::numeric_limits<double>::signaling_NaN() << ' '
                  << std::acos(2) << ' '
                  << std::tgamma(-1) << ' '
                  << std::log(-1) << ' '
                  << std::sqrt(-1) << ' '
                  << 0 / 0.0 << '\n';

        std::cout << "NaN == NaN? " << std::boolalpha
                  << ( std::numeric_limits<double>::quiet_NaN()
                       == std::numeric_limits<double>::quiet_NaN() ) << '\n';
    }

Output:

    nan nan nan nan nan -nan -nan
    NaN == NaN? false

### [edit] See also

has_quiet_NaN [static] | identifies floating-point types that can represent the special value "quiet not-a-number" (NaN) (public static member constant) [edit]
signaling_NaN [static] | returns a signaling NaN value of the given floating-point type (public static member function) [edit]
nan nanf nanl (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | not-a-number (NaN) (function) [edit]
isnan (C++11) | checks if the given number is NaN (function) [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php?title=cpp/types/numeric_limits/quiet_NaN&oldid=91344"
Category:

- unconditionally noexcept

Hidden categories:

- Pages with unreviewed unconditional noexcept template
- Pages with unreviewed noexcept template