std::numeric_limits<T>::lowest

 

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static constexpr T lowest() noexcept;		(since C++11)

Returns the lowest finite value representable by the numeric type T, that is, a finite value x such that there is no other finite value y where y < x. This is different from std::numeric_limits<T>::min() for floating-point types. Only meaningful for bounded types.

Return value

T	std::numeric_limits<T>::lowest()
/* non-specialized */	T()
bool	false
char	CHAR_MIN
signed char	SCHAR_MIN
unsigned char	​0​
wchar_t	WCHAR_MIN
char8_t (since C++20)	​0​
char16_t	​0​
char32_t	​0​
short	SHRT_MIN
unsigned short	​0​
int	INT_MIN
unsigned int	​0​
long	LONG_MIN
unsigned long	​0​
long long	LLONG_MIN
unsigned long long	​0​
float	-FLT_MAX
double	-DBL_MAX
long double	-LDBL_MAX

Notes

For every standard C++ floating-point type T std::numeric_limits<T>::lowest() == -std::numeric_limits<T>::max(), but this does not necessarily have to be the case for any third-party specialization.

Example

Demonstrates min(), max(), and lowest() for floating-point types:

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <limits>
#include <string_view>
 
template<typename T>
void print_twice(std::string_view type, T value)
{
    std::cout << '\t' << type << ": "
              << std::defaultfloat << value << " or "
              << std::hexfloat << value << '\n';
}
 
int main()
{
    // min()
    std::cout << "std::numeric_limits<T>::min():\n";
    print_twice("float", std::numeric_limits<float>::min());
    print_twice("double", std::numeric_limits<double>::min());
    print_twice("long double", std::numeric_limits<long double>::min());
 
    // lowest()
    std::cout << "std::numeric_limits<T>::lowest():\n";
    print_twice("float", std::numeric_limits<float>::lowest());
    print_twice("double", std::numeric_limits<double>::lowest());
    print_twice("long double", std::numeric_limits<long double>::lowest());
 
    // max()
    std::cout << "std::numeric_limits<T>::max():\n";
    print_twice("float", std::numeric_limits<float>::max());
    print_twice("double", std::numeric_limits<double>::max());
    print_twice("long double", std::numeric_limits<long double>::max());
}

Output:

std::numeric_limits<T>::min():
	float: 1.17549e-38 or 0x1p-126
	double: 2.22507e-308 or 0x1p-1022
	long double: 3.3621e-4932 or 0x8p-16385
std::numeric_limits<T>::lowest():
	float: -3.40282e+38 or -0x1.fffffep+127
	double: -1.79769e+308 or -0x1.fffffffffffffp+1023
	long double: -1.18973e+4932 or -0xf.fffffffffffffffp+16380
std::numeric_limits<T>::max():
	float: 3.40282e+38 or 0x1.fffffep+127
	double: 1.79769e+308 or 0x1.fffffffffffffp+1023
	long double: 1.18973e+4932 or 0xf.fffffffffffffffp+16380

See also

min [static]	returns the smallest finite value of the given type (public static member function)
denorm_min [static]	returns the smallest positive subnormal value of the given floating-point type (public static member function)
max [static]	returns the largest finite value of the given type (public static member function)