Modern C++ Programming Cookbook

How to do it...

Use std::numeric_limits<T> to query various properties of a numeric type T:

• Use min() and max() static methods to get the smallest and largest finite numbers of a type:

        template<typename T, typename I>         T minimum(I const start, I const end)         {           T minval = std::numeric_limits<T>::max();           for (auto i = start; i < end; ++i)           {             if (*i < minval)               minval = *i;           }           return minval;         }         int range[std::numeric_limits<char>::max() + 1] = { 0 };         switch(get_value())         {           case std::numeric_limits<int>::min():           break;         }

• Use other static methods and static constants to retrieve other properties of a numeric type:

        auto n = 42;         std::bitset<std::numeric_limits<decltype(n)>::digits>            bits { static_cast<unsigned long long>(n) };

In C++11, ...