Division without NaNs

A division operation that returns NA instead of NaN or Inf when the denominator is zero.

Usage

safe_divide(x, y)

Arguments

x

A numeric vector or scalar.

y

A numeric vector or scalar.

Value

A numeric vector. See Details for the behavior at y == 0.

Details

Returns the quotient x / y, except that any division by zero returns NA_real_. This includes 0 / 0: a ratio whose denominator is zero is undefined, so, for example, the share of a tract's population with health insurance is NA (not 0) when the tract has no population. Complements of such ratios (see define_complement) are then NA as well, rather than 1.

When x or y is NA, the result is NA.

Examples

safe_divide(1, 2)   # 0.5
#> [1] 0.5
safe_divide(0, 0)   # NA
#> [1] NA
safe_divide(3, 0)   # NA
#> [1] NA
safe_divide(3, NA)  # NA
#> [1] NA