IEEE 754 defines the result of divisions and multiplications involving NaN and Inf, which are used extensively in graphics programming. For example, 'select 1.

IEEE 754 defines the result of divisions and multiplications involving NaN and Inf, which are used extensively in graphics programming. For example, 'select 1.0/(1.0/0.0)' becomes 0.0 again. This allows for inf/nans to be canceled out instead of having to do error checking and exception handling every time one crops up.