std::numeric_limits

template< class T > class numeric_limits;

The numeric_limits class template provides a standardized way to query various properties of arithmetic types (e.g. the largest possible value for type int is std::numeric_limits<int>::max()).

This information is provided via specializations of the numeric_limits template. The standard library makes available specializations for all arithmetic types:

template<> class numeric_limits<bool>;
template<> class numeric_limits<char>;
template<> class numeric_limits<signed char>;
template<> class numeric_limits<unsigned char>;
template<> class numeric_limits<wchar_t>;
template<> class numeric_limits<char16_t>;   // C++11 feature
template<> class numeric_limits<char32_t>;   // C++11 feature
template<> class numeric_limits<short>;
template<> class numeric_limits<unsigned short>;
template<> class numeric_limits<int>;
template<> class numeric_limits<unsigned int>;
template<> class numeric_limits<long>;
template<> class numeric_limits<unsigned long>;
template<> class numeric_limits<long long>;
template<> class numeric_limits<unsigned long long>;
template<> class numeric_limits<float>;
template<> class numeric_limits<double>;
template<> class numeric_limits<long double>;

Additionally, a specialization exists for every cv-qualified version of each arithmetic type, identical to the unqualified specialization, e.g. std::numeric_limits<const int>, std::numeric_limits<volatile int>, and std::numeric_limits<const volatile int> are provided and are equivalent to std::numeric_limits<int>.

The standard library types that are aliases of arithmetic types (such as std::size_t or std::streamsize) may also be examined with the std::numeric_limits type traits.

Non-arithmetic standard types, such as std::complex<T> or std::nullptr_t, do not have specializations.

Implementations may provide specializations of std::numeric_limits for implementation-specific types: e.g. GCC provides std::numeric_limits<__int128>. Non-standard libraries may add specializations for library-provided types, e.g. OpenEXR provides std::numeric_limits<half> for a 16-bit floating-point type.

Template parameters

Member constants

Member functions

Helper classes

Relationship with C library macro constants

Example

#include <limits>
#include <iostream>
 
int main() 
{
    std::cout << "type\tlowest()\tmin()\t\tmax()\n\n";
 
    std::cout << "uchar\t"
              << +std::numeric_limits<unsigned char>::lowest() << '\t' << '\t'
              << +std::numeric_limits<unsigned char>::min() << '\t' << '\t'
              << +std::numeric_limits<unsigned char>::max() << '\n';
    std::cout << "int\t"
              << std::numeric_limits<int>::lowest() << '\t'
              << std::numeric_limits<int>::min() << '\t'
              << std::numeric_limits<int>::max() << '\n';
    std::cout << "float\t"
              << std::numeric_limits<float>::lowest() << '\t'
              << std::numeric_limits<float>::min() << '\t'
              << std::numeric_limits<float>::max() << '\n';
    std::cout << "double\t"
              << std::numeric_limits<double>::lowest() << '\t'
              << std::numeric_limits<double>::min() << '\t'
              << std::numeric_limits<double>::max() << '\n';
}

type        lowest()        min()                max()
 
uchar        0                0                255
int        -2147483648        -2147483648        2147483647
float        -3.40282e+38        1.17549e-38        3.40282e+38
double        -1.79769e+308        2.22507e-308        1.79769e+308

See also

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