C numeric limits interface

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Execution support library (C++26)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

Utilities library

Language support Type support (basic types, RTTI) Library feature-test macros (C++20) Dynamic memory management Program utilities Coroutine support (C++20) Variadic functions is_constant_evaluated (C++20) is_within_lifetime (C++26) initializer_list (C++11) source_location (C++20) Three-way comparison three_way_comparablethree_way_comparable_with (C++20)(C++20) strong_ordering (C++20) weak_ordering (C++20) partial_ordering (C++20) common_comparison_category (C++20) compare_three_way_result (C++20) compare_three_way (C++20) strong_order (C++20) weak_order (C++20) partial_order (C++20) compare_strong_order_fallback (C++20) compare_weak_order_fallback (C++20) compare_partial_order_fallback (C++20)   is_eqis_ltis_lteq (C++20)(C++20)(C++20)   is_neqis_gtis_gteq (C++20)(C++20)(C++20)

General utilities Date and time Function objects Formatting library (C++20)   bitset hash (C++11) Relational operators (deprecated in C++20) rel_ops::operator!=rel_ops::operator>    rel_ops::operator<=rel_ops::operator>= Integer comparison functions cmp_equalcmp_lesscmp_less_than (C++20)(C++20)(C++20)   cmp_not_equalcmp_greatercmp_greater_than (C++20)(C++20)(C++20) in_range (C++20) Swap and type operations swap ranges::swap (C++20) exchange (C++14) declval (C++11) to_underlying (C++23) forward (C++11) forward_like (C++23) move (C++11) move_if_noexcept (C++11) as_const (C++17) Common vocabulary types pair tuple (C++11) optional (C++17) any (C++17) variant (C++17) tuple_size (C++11) tuple_element (C++11) apply (C++17) make_from_tuple (C++17) expected (C++23) Elementary string conversions to_chars (C++17) from_chars (C++17) chars_format (C++17) to_chars_result (C++17) from_chars_result (C++17)

 

Type support

Basic types
Fixed width integer types (C++11)
Fixed width floating-point types (C++23)
ptrdiff_t size_t max_align_t (C++11)     byte (C++17)	nullptr_t (C++11) offsetof NULL
Numeric limits
numeric_limits
C numeric limits interface
Runtime type information
type_info type_index (C++11)	bad_typeid bad_cast

 

See also std::numeric_limits interface.

Limits of integer types

Limits of core language integer types
Defined in header <climits>
CHAR_BIT	number of bits in a byte (macro constant)
MB_LEN_MAX	maximum number of bytes in a multibyte character (macro constant)
CHAR_MIN	minimum value of char (macro constant)
CHAR_MAX	maximum value of char (macro constant)
SCHAR_MINSHRT_MININT_MINLONG_MINLLONG_MIN (C++11)	minimum value of signed char, short, int, long and long long respectively (macro constant)
SCHAR_MAXSHRT_MAXINT_MAXLONG_MAXLLONG_MAX (C++11)	maximum value of signed char, short, int, long and long long respectively (macro constant)
UCHAR_MAXUSHRT_MAXUINT_MAXULONG_MAXULLONG_MAX (C++11)	maximum value of unsigned char, unsigned short, unsigned int, unsigned long and unsigned long long respectively (macro constant)
Defined in header <cwchar>
Defined in header <cstdint>
WCHAR_MIN (C++11)	minimum value of wchar_t (macro constant)
WCHAR_MAX (C++11)	maximum value of wchar_t (macro constant)
Limits of library type aliases
Defined in header <cstdint>
PTRDIFF_MIN (C++11)	minimum value of std::ptrdiff_t (macro constant)
PTRDIFF_MAX (C++11)	maximum value of std::ptrdiff_t (macro constant)
SIZE_MAX (C++11)	maximum value of std::size_t (macro constant)
SIG_ATOMIC_MIN (C++11)	minimum value of std::sig_atomic_t (macro constant)
SIG_ATOMIC_MAX (C++11)	maximum value of std::sig_atomic_t (macro constant)
WINT_MIN (C++11)	minimum value of std::wint_t (macro constant)
WINT_MAX (C++11)	maximum value of std::wint_t (macro constant)

Notes

The types of these constants, other than CHAR_BIT and MB_LEN_MAX, are required to match the results of the integral promotions as applied to objects of the types they describe: CHAR_MAX may have type int or unsigned int, but never char. Similarly USHRT_MAX may not be of an unsigned type: its type may be int.

A freestanding implementation may lack std::sig_atomic_t and/or std::wint_t typedef names, in which case the SIG_ATOMIC_* and/or WINT_* macros are correspondingly absent.

Example

Run this code

#include <climits>
#include <cstdint>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    constexpr int w = 14;
    std::cout << std::left;
#   define COUT(x) std::cout << std::setw(w) << #x << " = " << x << '\n'
 
    COUT( CHAR_BIT       );
    COUT( MB_LEN_MAX     );
    COUT( CHAR_MIN       );
    COUT( CHAR_MAX       );
    COUT( SCHAR_MIN      );
    COUT( SHRT_MIN       );
    COUT( INT_MIN        );
    COUT( LONG_MIN       );
    COUT( LLONG_MIN      );
    COUT( SCHAR_MAX      );
    COUT( SHRT_MAX       );
    COUT( INT_MAX        );
    COUT( LONG_MAX       );
    COUT( LLONG_MAX      );
    COUT( UCHAR_MAX      );
    COUT( USHRT_MAX      );
    COUT( UINT_MAX       );
    COUT( ULONG_MAX      );
    COUT( ULLONG_MAX     );
    COUT( PTRDIFF_MIN    );
    COUT( PTRDIFF_MAX    );
    COUT( SIZE_MAX       );
    COUT( SIG_ATOMIC_MIN );
    COUT( SIG_ATOMIC_MAX );
    COUT( WCHAR_MIN      );
    COUT( WCHAR_MAX      );
    COUT( WINT_MIN       );
    COUT( WINT_MAX       );
}

Possible output:

CHAR_BIT       = 8
MB_LEN_MAX     = 16
CHAR_MIN       = -128
CHAR_MAX       = 127
SCHAR_MIN      = -128
SHRT_MIN       = -32768
INT_MIN        = -2147483648
LONG_MIN       = -9223372036854775808
LLONG_MIN      = -9223372036854775808
SCHAR_MAX      = 127
SHRT_MAX       = 32767
INT_MAX        = 2147483647
LONG_MAX       = 9223372036854775807
LLONG_MAX      = 9223372036854775807
UCHAR_MAX      = 255
USHRT_MAX      = 65535
UINT_MAX       = 4294967295
ULONG_MAX      = 18446744073709551615
ULLONG_MAX     = 18446744073709551615
PTRDIFF_MIN    = -9223372036854775808
PTRDIFF_MAX    = 9223372036854775807
SIZE_MAX       = 18446744073709551615
SIG_ATOMIC_MIN = -2147483648
SIG_ATOMIC_MAX = 2147483647
WCHAR_MIN      = -2147483648
WCHAR_MAX      = 2147483647
WINT_MIN       = 0
WINT_MAX       = 4294967295

Limits of floating-point types

Defined in header <cfloat>
FLT_RADIX	the radix (integer base) used by the representation of all three floating-point types (macro constant)
DECIMAL_DIG (C++11)	conversion from long double to decimal with at least DECIMAL_DIG digits and back to long double is the identity conversion: this is the decimal precision required to serialize/deserialize a long double (see also std::numeric_limits::max_digits10) (macro constant)
FLT_DECIMAL_DIGDBL_DECIMAL_DIGLDBL_DECIMAL_DIG (C++17)	conversion from float/double/long double to decimal with at least FLT_DECIMAL_DIG/DBL_DECIMAL_DIG/LDBL_DECIMAL_DIG digits and back is the identity conversion: this is the decimal precision required to serialize/deserialize a floating-point value (see also std::numeric_limits::max_digits10). Defined to at least 6, 10, and 10 respectively, or 9 for IEEE float and 17 for IEEE double. (macro constant)
FLT_MINDBL_MINLDBL_MIN	minimum normalized positive value of float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_TRUE_MINDBL_TRUE_MINLDBL_TRUE_MIN (C++17)	minimum positive value of float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_MAXDBL_MAXLDBL_MAX	maximum finite value of float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_EPSILONDBL_EPSILONLDBL_EPSILON	difference between 1.0 and the next representable value for float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_DIGDBL_DIGLDBL_DIG	number of decimal digits that are guaranteed to be preserved in text → float/double/long double → text roundtrip without change due to rounding or overflow (see std::numeric_limits::digits10 for explanation) (macro constant)
FLT_MANT_DIGDBL_MANT_DIGLDBL_MANT_DIG	number of base FLT_RADIX digits that can be represented without losing precision for float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_MIN_EXPDBL_MIN_EXPLDBL_MIN_EXP	minimum negative integer such that FLT_RADIX raised by power one less than that integer is a normalized float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_MIN_10_EXPDBL_MIN_10_EXPLDBL_MIN_10_EXP	minimum negative integer such that 10 raised to that power is a normalized float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_MAX_EXPDBL_MAX_EXPLDBL_MAX_EXP	maximum positive integer such that FLT_RADIX raised by power one less than that integer is a representable finite float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_MAX_10_EXPDBL_MAX_10_EXPLDBL_MAX_10_EXP	maximum positive integer such that 10 raised to that power is a representable finite float, double and long double respectively (macro constant)
FLT_ROUNDS	default rounding mode of floating-point arithmetic (macro constant)
FLT_EVAL_METHOD (C++11)	specifies in what precision all arithmetic operations are done (macro constant)
FLT_HAS_SUBNORMDBL_HAS_SUBNORMLDBL_HAS_SUBNORM (C++17)	specifies whether the type supports subnormal (denormal) numbers: -1 – indeterminable, ​0​ – absent, 1 – present (macro constant)

Example

Run this code

#include <cfloat>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    int w = 16;
    std::cout << std::left; // std::cout << std::setprecision(53);
#   define COUT(x) std::cout << std::setw(w) << #x << " = " << x << '\n'
 
    COUT( FLT_RADIX        );
    COUT( DECIMAL_DIG      );
    COUT( FLT_DECIMAL_DIG  );
    COUT( DBL_DECIMAL_DIG  );
    COUT( LDBL_DECIMAL_DIG );
    COUT( FLT_MIN          );
    COUT( DBL_MIN          );
    COUT( LDBL_MIN         );
    COUT( FLT_TRUE_MIN     );
    COUT( DBL_TRUE_MIN     );
    COUT( LDBL_TRUE_MIN    );
    COUT( FLT_MAX          );
    COUT( DBL_MAX          );
    COUT( LDBL_MAX         );
    COUT( FLT_EPSILON      );
    COUT( DBL_EPSILON      );
    COUT( LDBL_EPSILON     );
    COUT( FLT_DIG          );
    COUT( DBL_DIG          );
    COUT( LDBL_DIG         );
    COUT( FLT_MANT_DIG     );
    COUT( DBL_MANT_DIG     );
    COUT( LDBL_MANT_DIG    );
    COUT( FLT_MIN_EXP      );
    COUT( DBL_MIN_EXP      );
    COUT( LDBL_MIN_EXP     );
    COUT( FLT_MIN_10_EXP   );
    COUT( DBL_MIN_10_EXP   );
    COUT( LDBL_MIN_10_EXP  );
    COUT( FLT_MAX_EXP      );
    COUT( DBL_MAX_EXP      );
    COUT( LDBL_MAX_EXP     );
    COUT( FLT_MAX_10_EXP   );
    COUT( DBL_MAX_10_EXP   );
    COUT( LDBL_MAX_10_EXP  );
    COUT( FLT_ROUNDS       );
    COUT( FLT_EVAL_METHOD  );
    COUT( FLT_HAS_SUBNORM  );
    COUT( DBL_HAS_SUBNORM  );
    COUT( LDBL_HAS_SUBNORM );
}

Possible output:

FLT_RADIX        = 2
DECIMAL_DIG      = 21
FLT_DECIMAL_DIG  = 9
DBL_DECIMAL_DIG  = 17
LDBL_DECIMAL_DIG = 21
FLT_MIN          = 1.17549e-38
DBL_MIN          = 2.22507e-308
LDBL_MIN         = 3.3621e-4932
FLT_TRUE_MIN     = 1.4013e-45
DBL_TRUE_MIN     = 4.94066e-324
LDBL_TRUE_MIN    = 3.6452e-4951
FLT_MAX          = 3.40282e+38
DBL_MAX          = 1.79769e+308
LDBL_MAX         = 1.18973e+4932
FLT_EPSILON      = 1.19209e-07
DBL_EPSILON      = 2.22045e-16
LDBL_EPSILON     = 1.0842e-19
FLT_DIG          = 6
DBL_DIG          = 15
LDBL_DIG         = 18
FLT_MANT_DIG     = 24
DBL_MANT_DIG     = 53
LDBL_MANT_DIG    = 64
FLT_MIN_EXP      = -125
DBL_MIN_EXP      = -1021
LDBL_MIN_EXP     = -16381
FLT_MIN_10_EXP   = -37
DBL_MIN_10_EXP   = -307
LDBL_MIN_10_EXP  = -4931
FLT_MAX_EXP      = 128
DBL_MAX_EXP      = 1024
LDBL_MAX_EXP     = 16384
FLT_MAX_10_EXP   = 38
DBL_MAX_10_EXP   = 308
LDBL_MAX_10_EXP  = 4932
FLT_ROUNDS       = 1
FLT_EVAL_METHOD  = 0
FLT_HAS_SUBNORM  = 1
DBL_HAS_SUBNORM  = 1
LDBL_HAS_SUBNORM = 1

Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.

DR	Applied to	Behavior as published	Correct behavior
LWG 416	C++98	it was unclear whether the types of the macros in <climits> are guaranteed to match the type to which they refer (C++ refers to C, and C says no)	clarified as not guaranteed

See also

• Fixed width integer types
• Arithmetic types
• C++ type system overview
• Type support (basic types, RTTI, type traits)

C documentation for Numeric limits