How to Check for NaN Values in Python

1. Use the math.isnan() Function to Check for nan Values in Python
2. Use the numpy.isnan() Function to Check for nan Values in Python
3. Use the pandas.isna() Function to Check for nan Values in Python
4. Use the obj != obj to Check for nan Values in Python

The nan is a constant that indicates that the given value is not legal - Not a Number.

Note that nan and NULL are two different things. NULL value indicates something that doesn’t exist and is empty.

In Python, we deal with such values very frequently in different objects. So it is necessary to detect such constants.

In Python, we have the isnan() function, which can check for nan values. And this function is available in two modules- NumPy and math. The isna() function in the pandas module can also check for nan values.

Use the math.isnan() Function to Check for nan Values in Python

The isnan() function in the math library can be used to check for nan constants in float objects. It returns True for every such value encountered. For example:

import math
import numpy as np

b = math.nan
print(np.isnan(b))

Output:

True

Note that the math.nan constant represents a nan value.

Use the numpy.isnan() Function to Check for nan Values in Python

The numpy.isnan() function can check in different collections like lists, arrays, and more for nan values. It checks each element and returns an array with True wherever it encounters nan constants. For example:

import numpy as np

a = np.array([5, 6, np.NaN])

print(np.isnan(a))

Output:

[False False  True]

np.NaN() constant represents also a nan value.

Use the pandas.isna() Function to Check for nan Values in Python

The isna() function in the pandas module can detect NULL or nan values. It returns True for all such values encountered. It can check for such values in a DataFrame or a Series object as well. For example,

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

ser = pd.Series([5, 6, np.NaN])

print(pd.isna(ser))

Output:

0    False
1    False
2     True
dtype: bool

Use the obj != obj to Check for nan Values in Python

For any object except nan, the expression obj == obj always returns True. For example,

print([] == [])
print("1" == "1")
print([1, 2, 3] == [1, 2, 3])
print(float("nan") == float("nan"))

Therefore, we could use obj != obj to check if the value is nan. It is nan if the return value is True.

import math

b = math.nan


def isNaN(num):
    return num != num


print(isNaN(b))

Output:

True

This method however, might fail with lower versions of Python (<=Python 2.5).