Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY

The Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY static data property represents the negative Infinity value.

Try it

function checkNumber(smallNumber) {
  if (smallNumber === Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY) {
    return "Process number as -Infinity";
  }
  return smallNumber;
}

console.log(checkNumber(-Number.MAX_VALUE));
// Expected output: -1.7976931348623157e+308

console.log(checkNumber(-Number.MAX_VALUE * 2));
// Expected output: "Process number as -Infinity"

Value

The same as the negative value of the global Infinity property.

Property attributes of Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY
Writableno
Enumerableno
Configurableno

Description

The Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY value behaves slightly differently than mathematical infinity:

You might use the Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY property to indicate an error condition that returns a finite number in case of success. Note, however, that NaN would be more appropriate in such a case.

Because NEGATIVE_INFINITY is a static property of Number, you always use it as Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY, rather than as a property of a number value.

Examples

undefined

Using NEGATIVE_INFINITY

In the following example, the variable smallNumber is assigned a value that is smaller than the minimum value. When the if statement executes, smallNumber has the value -Infinity, so smallNumber is set to a more manageable value before continuing.

js
let smallNumber = -Number.MAX_VALUE * 2;

if (smallNumber === Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY) {
  smallNumber = returnFinite();
}

Specifications

See also