Use of min and max functions in C

Question

Are std::min and std::max better than fmin and fmax in C++?

Do they provide essentially the same functionality when comparing two integers?

Do you prefer to use one of these libraries of functions or write your own (to improve efficiency, portability, flexibility, and so on)?

Notes:
The min and max functions are declared in the standard C++ algorithm header by the C++ Standard Template Library (STL).

The fmin and fmax functions are included in the standard C math.h header according to the C standard (C99).

Thank you very much in advance!

Answer 1

The functions fmin and fmax are designed to work with floating point numbers (hence the "f").

Depending on your compiler/platform, you may experience performance or precision losses when using it for ints due to conversion, function call overhead, and other factors.

std::min and std::max are two standard variables.

are template functions (defined in the header) that work on any type that has a less-than () operator, allowing them to operate on any data type that allows a comparison.

If you don't want it to work off, you can create your own comparison function.

This is safer because when arguments have different types, you must explicitly convert them to match.

For example, the compiler will not allow you to convert a 64-bit int to a 64-bit float by mistake.

The templates should be made for this reason alone.

Even when used with floats, the template may outperform the others in terms of performance.

Because the source code is part of the compilation unit, a compiler can always inline calls to template functions.

On the other hand, in-lining a call to a library function isn't always possible (shared libraries, absence of link-time optimization, etc.).