Thread: std::numeric_limits<float>::min()

  1. #1
    Confused Magos's Avatar
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    std::numeric_limits<float>::min()

    Why does std::numeric_limits<float>::min() give 0.0f instead of -XXX (whatever it is)?
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  2. #2
    Sweet
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    What compiler? I get 1.17549e-038 with mingw
    Woop?

  3. #3
    Registered User
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    According to the section in C++ standard about min() (18.2.1.2): "For floating types with denormalization, returns the minimum positive normalized value."

    This is probably because floating point numbers are all signed anyway, and knowing the smallest value representable is more useful than knowing the most negative number (which is just the max() * -1).

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