Java Math abs() method

What is the absolute value function in Mathematics?

In mathematics, the absolute value of a number is equal to the positive value of the number passed.The absolute value function ignores the sign and returns the value without it. For example, the absolute of +5 is 5. Whereas, the absolute of -5 is also 5.

What is Math.abs() method() in Java?

The java.lang.Math class provides a static method Math.abs(parameter) to find the “absolute value” of the parameter. So, if you pass any positive number let’s say Math.abs(5) it will return 5. For a negative 5, Math.abs(-5) the result would be the same, i-e; 5.

Method Header

public static dataType abs(dataType parameter)

Allowed DataTypes

The abs() method of Java is overloaded for various data types. The allowed types are as under.

Example 1

public class DriverClass {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
   
        int number = +5;
        // Print the original number
        System.out.println("Original Number = " + number);
 
        // Printing the absolute value
        // Calling the Math.abs() method
        System.out.println("Absolute Number = " + "Math.abs( " + number + " ) = " + Math.abs(number));
        
        
        number = -5;
        // Print the original number
        System.out.println("Original Number = " + number);
 
        // Printing the absolute value
        // Calling the Math.abs() method
        System.out.println("Absolute Number = " + "Math.abs( " + number + " ) = " + Math.abs(number));
        
    }
}

Output

Explanation

In the code snippet above, we have taken two numbers. The first number is a positive integer i.e. +5. The second number is a negative integer i.e. -5. We pass both the numbers to the Math.abs(number) method. The method returns 5 for both the inputs ignoring their respective signs.

Example 2

public class DriverClass {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
   
        int number = -0;
        System.out.println("Original Number = " + number);
        System.out.println("Math.abs( " + number + " ) = " + Math.abs(number) + "\n");
        
        long number1 = -4499990;
        System.out.println("Original Number = " + number1);
        System.out.println("Math.abs( " + number1 + " ) = " + Math.abs(number1) + "\n");
        
        float number2 = -92.45f;
        System.out.println("Original Number = " + number2);
        System.out.println("Math.abs( " + number2 + " ) = " + Math.abs(number2) + "\n");
        
        double number3 = -63.7777777777;
        System.out.println("Original Number = " + number3);
        System.out.println("Math.abs( " + number3 + " ) = " + Math.abs(number3) + "\n");
    }
}

Output

Explanation

In the code above, we have taken double, long and float values in addition to integer as inputs for the Math.abs() method. We have passed all the respectives values to the Math.abs() method one by one and displayed the results on the console.

Boundary Cases

Here are some exceptional cases that you need to take care of while using Math.abs() method.

For int and long data types

If the argument is positive zero or negative zero, the result is positive zero. For Integer.MIN_VALUE or Long.MIN_VALUE the output of Math.abs() is still the smallest integer or long which is negative.

For float and double data types

If the argument is infinite, the result is positive infinity. If the argument is NaN, the result is NaN.

Conclusion

By the end of this post, you must be familiar with the Java Math.abs() method. You can use it on different numerical data types. You can come across multiple day-to-day applications of this method. As always, we encourage you to learn by practicing. Till then, keep learning and keep growing!