October 2005
Intermediate to advanced
372 pages
11h 35m
English
abs()
number abs ( number num )The abs() function returns the absolute value of the parameter you pass to it. By absolute, I mean that it leaves positive values untouched, and converts negative values into positive values. Thus:
abs(50); // 50
abs(-12); // 12You can either send a floating-point number or an integer to abs(), and it will return the same type:
abs(50.1); // 50.1
abs(-12.5); // 12.5The abs() function is helpful for handling user input, such as "How many t-shirts would you like to buy?" While you could write code to check for values equal to or under 0, and issue warnings if appropriate, it is easier to put all quantity input through abs() to ensure it is positive.