fdim, fdimf, fdiml

Defined in header `<math.h>`
float fdimf( float x, float y );	(1)	(since C99)
double fdim( double x, double y );	(2)	(since C99)
long double fdiml( long double x, long double y );	(3)	(since C99)
Defined in header `<tgmath.h>`
#define fdim( x, y )	(4)	(since C99)

1-3) Returns the positive difference between x and y, that is, if x>y, returns x-y, otherwise (if x≤y), returns +0.

4) Type-generic macro: If any argument has type long double, fdiml is called. Otherwise, if any argument has integer type or has type double, fdim is called. Otherwise, fdimf is called.

Parameters

x, y

floating-point value

Return value

If successful, returns the positive difference between x and y.

If a range error due to overflow occurs, +HUGE_VAL, +HUGE_VALF, or +HUGE_VALL is returned.

If a range error due to underflow occurs, the correct value (after rounding) is returned.

Error handling

Errors are reported as specified in Template:rllpt.

If the implementation supports IEEE floating-point arithmetic (IEC 60559),

If either argument is NaN, NaN is returned.

Notes

Equivalent to fmax(x-y, 0) except for the NaN handling requirements.

Example

#include <errno.h>
#include <fenv.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <stdio.h>
// #pragma STDC FENV_ACCESS ON

int main(void)
{
    printf("fdim(4, 1) = %f, fdim(1, 4)=%f\n", fdim(4,1), fdim(1,4));
    printf("fdim(4,-1) = %f, fdim(1,-4)=%f\n", fdim(4,-1), fdim(1,-4));
    //error handling
    errno = 0; feclearexcept(FE_ALL_EXCEPT);
    printf("fdim(1e308, -1e308) = %f\n", fdim(1e308, -1e308));
    if (errno == ERANGE)
        perror("    errno == ERANGE");
    if (fetestexcept(FE_OVERFLOW))
        puts("    FE_OVERFLOW raised");
}

Possible output:

fdim(4, 1) = 3.000000, fdim(1, 4)=0.000000
fdim(4,-1) = 5.000000, fdim(1,-4)=5.000000
fdim(1e308, -1e308) = inf
    errno == ERANGE: Numerical result out of range
    FE_OVERFLOW raised

References

C23 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2024):

7.12.12.1 The fdim functions (p: TBD)
7.25 Type-generic math <tgmath.h> (p: TBD)
F.10.9.1 The fdim functions (p: TBD)

C17 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2018):

7.12.12.1 The fdim functions (p: 187-188)
7.25 Type-generic math <tgmath.h> (p: 272-273)
F.10.9.1 The fdim functions (p: 386)

C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):

7.12.12.1 The fdim functions (p: 257)
7.25 Type-generic math <tgmath.h> (p: 373-375)
F.10.9.1 The fdim functions (p: 530)

C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):

7.12.12.1 The fdim functions (p: 238)
7.22 Type-generic math <tgmath.h> (p: 335-337)
F.9.9.1 The fdim functions (p: 466)

abslabsllabs (C99)	computes absolute value of an integral value (\(\small{\|x\|}\)\|x\|) (function)
fmaxfmaxffmaxl (C99)(C99)(C99)	determines larger of two floating-point values (function)
C++ documentation for `fdim`