Why is `Zero` defined not as `New(0, 0)` but as `New(0, 1)`?

[your-diary]

I'm interested in the design decision just for curiosity.

Also, if

The zero-value of a Decimal is 0, as you would expect. (source)

, can't it be defined as Decimal{}?

[EVODelavega]

The exponent doesn't really matter when it comes to zero values, if you look at the implementation of the IsZero method, you'll see that it returns d.Sign() == 0, where sign can either be -1 or +1 for positive/negative numbers, and 0 for zero. As for the question about zero being possibly defined as Decimal{}: the nil value of the Decimal type is zero, which you can easily check like so:

d := shopspring.Decimal{}
fmt.Println(d.IsZero()) // prints true

[arvenil]

I also don't understand why Zero is defined as

var Zero = New(0, 1)

instead of

var Zero Decimal

What's the point of Zero if we can (and should?) use Decimal{}?