Using Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY in Java to find minimum value

12,754

Solution 1

It is safe to use Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY. From the specification

All values other than NaN are ordered, with negative infinity less than all finite values, and positive infinity greater than all finite values.

Solution 2

Just set the minimum to the first element of the array (values[0) since you assume that at-least one value exists. If there is only one element, it must be the minimum, and otherwise, it will be updated accordingly.

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12,754
donnyton
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donnyton

Updated on June 16, 2022

Comments

  • donnyton
    donnyton about 2 years

    Simple question: will the following code work for finding the minimum value in an array of doubles (assume at least one value exists):

    double[] values = ...
    
    double currentMin = Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
    
    for(int i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
        if(values[i] < currentMin) {
            currentMin = values[i];
        }
    }
    
    return currentMin;
    

    The crux of the question is whether POSITIVE_INFINITY will behave as expected when compared to other (real) double values, as well as potential infinities themselves.