I know there is a fair bit of division on this point but I've always liked type mixing, in languages where this is available, to handle signal values and prefer

I know there is a fair bit of division on this point but I've always liked type mixing, in languages where this is available, to handle signal values and preferred separate variables where it is not. I'd prefer to `if (v IS NULL)` a nullable float compared to checking a constant value - or else to use a guard value to test the validity i.e. `if x = FREQUENCY_SET // enter logic involving the frequency stored in v` - that approach is even better if you can use tuples/structs to glue the status and value fields together. I am a quickly crustifying developer who was an enthusiatic value packer in their younger years but I've changed my tune to be less afraid of using more variables if they are clearer - even if that comes at a cost to data efficiency (and like, an extremely negligible cost in most situations). Though I don't have any objections to value packing for serialization - that's a fundamentally different domain.