I think you're right that they're indistinguishable, in that -0.0 == 0.0 The division by 0 in that article gives the same ArithmeticError in each case, notice

I think you're right that they're indistinguishable, in that -0.0 == 0.0 The division by 0 in that article gives the same ArithmeticError in each case, notice the 0.0 in both errors: iex(8)> 1.0 / -0.0 ** (ArithmeticError) bad argument in arithmetic expression: 1.0 / 0.0 :erlang./(1.0, 0.0) iex(8)> 1.0/0.0 ** (ArithmeticError) bad argument in arithmetic expression: 1.0 / 0.0 :erlang./(1.0, 0.0) It's also ignored when rounding: iex(10)> Float.round(-0.01, 1) 0.0 iex(11)> Float.round(0.01, 1) 0.0