Why Does Division by Zero in Go Result in a Compiler Error?

Division by Zero in Go: Compiler Error vs. Warning

In Go, attempting to divide a floating-point number by zero results in a compiler error, as seen in the example below:

<code class="go">func main() {
    var y float64 = 0.0
    var x float64 = 4.0 / y
    fmt.Println(x)
}</code>

Output:

prog.go:9:22: division by zero

This error occurs because numeric constants in Go are exact and do not map directly to any IEEE754 float type. As a result, they cannot store infinities or negative zero.

According to the documentation, "Numeric constants represent exact values of arbitrary precision and do not overflow. Consequently, there are no constants denoting the IEEE-754 negative zero, infinity, and not-a-number values."

This choice provides some benefits, such as reducing overflow in constants, as demonstrated below:

<code class="go">var x float64 = 1e1000 / 1e999 // yes, this is 10</code>

If you require an infinity value, you can use the following code:

<code class="go">var x float64 = math.Inf(1)</code>

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