Use of min and max functions in C++

by

fmin and fmax are specifically for use with floating point numbers (hence the “f”). If you use it for ints, you may suffer performance or precision losses due to conversion, function call overhead, etc. depending on your compiler/platform.

std::min and std::max are template functions (defined in header <algorithm>) which work on any type with a less-than (<) operator, so they can operate on any data type that allows such a comparison. You can also provide your own comparison function if you don’t want it to work off <.

This is safer since you have to explicitly convert arguments to match when they have different types. The compiler won’t let you accidentally convert a 64-bit int into a 64-bit float, for example. This reason alone should make the templates your default choice. (Credit to Matthieu M & bk1e)

Even when used with floats the template may win in performance. A compiler always has the option of inlining calls to template functions since the source code is part of the compilation unit. Sometimes it’s impossible to inline a call to a library function, on the other hand (shared libraries, absence of link-time optimization, etc.).

More Related Contents:

  1. How can I get the maximum or minimum value in a vector?
  2. MIN and MAX in C
  3. C extension:
  4. How to atomically update a maximum value?
  5. Difference between list<Observer*>* and list<Observer*> in C++ [closed]
  6. Using getline(cin, s) after cin [duplicate]
  7. Implementation C++14 make_integer_sequence
  8. What happens when I print an uninitialized variable in C++?
  9. How to implement an STL-style iterator and avoid common pitfalls?
  10. Range based loop: get item by value or reference to const?
  11. std::fstream doesn’t create file
  12. What is the default constructor for C++ pointer?
  13. c++ Read from .csv file
  14. GNU GCC (g++): Why does it generate multiple dtors?
  15. multiple definition of template specialization when using different objects
  16. exit() call inside a function which should return a reference
  17. Class variables: public access read-only, but private access read/write
  18. String to enum in C++
  19. writing directly to std::string internal buffers
  20. QObject Multiple Inheritance
  21. How to install feature based on the property set in custom action?
  22. Reusing thread in loop c++
  23. Does std::cout have a return value?
  24. Get sum of values stored in __m256d with SSE/AVX
  25. What’s the differences between .dll , .lib, .h files?
  26. QDialog exec() and getting result value
  27. rc.exe no longer found in VS 2015 Command Prompt
  28. Multiple “could not be resolved” problems using Eclipse with minGW
  29. Where ampersand “&” can be put when passing argument by reference?
  30. What is the modern, correct way to do type punning in C++?

Leave a Comment