[New-bugs-announce] [issue22951] unexpected return from float.__repr__() for inf, -inf, nan

[jaebae17]

New submission from jaebae17:

The help page for the built-in repr() states ''' For many types, this function makes an attempt to return a string that would yield an object with the same value when passed to eval()...'''

This holds true for non-inf/nan values of float():
>>> eval(repr(float('0.0')))
0.0

But for inf, -inf, and nan it does not:
>>> eval(repr(float('inf')))
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'inf' is not defined

Expected return from repr(float('inf')) was "float('inf')", but perhaps 'inf' response has too much history at this point to be changed.

----------
messages: 231724
nosy: jaebae17
priority: normal
severity: normal
status: open
title: unexpected return from float.__repr__() for inf, -inf, nan
type: behavior
versions: Python 2.7

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue22951>
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