std::less

Defined in header `<functional>`
template< class T > struct less;		(until C++14)
template< class T = void > struct less;		(since C++14)

Function object for performing comparisons. Unless specialized, invokes operator< on type T.

Specializations

A specialization of std::less for any pointer type yields a strict total order, even if the built-in operator< does not.The strict total order is consistent among specializations of std::less, std::greater, std::less_equal, and std::greater_equal for that pointer type, and is also consistent with the partial order imposed by the corresponding built-in operators (<, >, <= and >=).

If the function call operator of the specialization std::less<void> calls a built-in operator comparing pointers, it yields a strict total order even if the built-in operator< does not.This strict total order is consistent among the specializations std::less<void>, std::greater<void>, std::less_equal<void>, and std::greater_equal<void>, and is also consistent with the partial order imposed by the corresponding built-in operators.

(since C++14)

The standard library provides a specialization of std::less when T is not specified, which leaves the parameter types and return type to be deduced.

less<void>

function object implementing x < y deducing argument and return types
(class template specialization)

(since C++14)

Member types

type	definition
`result_type`(deprecated in C++17)	`bool`
`first_argument_type`(deprecated in C++17)	`T`
`second_argument_type`(deprecated in C++17)	`T`

Member functions

operator()

checks if the first argument is less than the second
(public member function)

std::less::operator()

bool operator()( const T& lhs, const T& rhs ) const;		(until C++14)
constexpr bool operator()( const T& lhs, const T& rhs ) const;		(since C++14)

Checks whether lhs is less than rhs.

Parameters

lhs, rhs

-

values to compare

Return value

true if lhs < rhs, false otherwise.

Exceptions

(none)

Possible implementation

constexpr bool operator()(const T &lhs, const T &rhs) const 
{
    return lhs < rhs;
}

Example

Run this code

#include <functional>
#include <iostream>
 
template <typename A, typename B, typename U = std::less<int>>
bool f(A a, B b, U u = U())
{
    return u(a, b);
}
 
int main() 
{
    std::cout << std::boolalpha;   
    std::cout << f(5, 20) << '\n';
    std::cout << f(100, 10) << '\n';
}

Output:

true
false

Language
Standard library headers
Concepts
Utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Algorithms library
Iterators library
Numerics library
Input/output library
Localizations library
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Atomic operations library (C++11)
Thread support library (C++11)
Filesystem library (C++17)
Technical Specifications

Type support (basic types, RTTI, type traits)
Dynamic memory management
Error handling
Program utilities
Variadic functions
Date and time
Function objects
initializer_list (C++11)
bitset
hash (C++11)
Relational operators
rel_ops::operator!=rel_ops::operator>rel_ops::operator<=rel_ops::operator>=
`optional`, `any` and `variant` (C++17)
optional
any
variant
in_placein_place_typein_place_indexin_place_tin_place_type_tin_place_index_t
Pairs and tuples
pair
tuple (C++11)
apply (C++17)
make_from_tuple (C++17)
piecewise_construct_t (C++11)
piecewise_construct (C++11)
integer_sequence (C++14)
Swap, forward and move
swap
exchange (C++14)
forward (C++11)
move (C++11)
move_if_noexcept (C++11)
Elementary string conversions
to_chars (C++17)
from_chars (C++17)
chars_format (C++17)
Type operations
declval (C++11)
as_const (C++17)

owner_less (C++11)	provides mixed-type owner-based ordering of shared and weak pointers (class template)
greater	function object implementing x > y (class template)