Arduino

Reference Language | Libraries | Comparison | Changes

## min(x, y)

#### Description

Calculates the minimum of two numbers.

#### Parameters

x: the first number, any data type

y: the second number, any data type

#### Returns

The smaller of the two numbers.

#### Examples

    sensVal = min(sensVal, 100); // assigns sensVal to the smaller of sensVal or 100
                                 // ensuring that it never gets above 100.

#### Note

Perhaps counter-intuitively, max() is often used to constrain the lower end of a variable's range, while min() is used to constrain the upper end of the range.

#### Warning

Because of the way the min() function is implemented, avoid using other functions inside the brackets, it may lead to incorrect results

    min(a++, 100);   // avoid this - yields incorrect results

    a++;
    min(a, 100);    // use this instead - keep other math outside the function

#### See also

- max()
- constrain()

Reference Home

Corrections, suggestions, and new documentation should be posted to the Forum.

The text of the Arduino reference is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Code samples in the reference are released into the public domain.

©Arduino | Edit Page | Page History | Printable View | All Recent Site Changes