What is the point of float('inf') in Python?

Question

Just wondering over here, what is the point of having a variable store an infinite value in a program? Is there any actual use and is there any case where it would be prefer

Answer 1

float('inf') can be used in the comparison, thus making the code simpler and clear. For instance, in merge sort, a float('inf') can be added to the end of subarrays as a sentinel value. Don't confuse with the usage of infinity in maths, after all, programming is not all about maths.