How to mark empty in a single element in a float array

arrays, floating-point, java

Solution

Can you use Float.NaN?

public class FloatArray {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        float[] data = new float[10];
        data[5] = Float.NaN;
        for (float f : data){
            if (Float.isNaN(f)){
                System.out.println("No Valve");
            } else {
                System.out.println(f);
            }
        }
    }
}

Then where is not risk of using a Sentianl Value like -1 that may be valid and you can test using Float#isNaN(f)

Problem

I have a large float (primitive) array and not every element in the array is filled. How can i mark a particular element as EMPTY. I understand this can be achieved by some special symbols but still i would like to know the standard way. Even if i am using some special symbol , how will i handle a situation where the actual data item is the value of special symbol. In short my question is how to implement the NULL feature in a primitive type array in java. PS - The reason why i am not using Float object is to achieve a high memory and speed performance. Thanks Vineeth

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