maximum value for type float in c#

Question

When I do this:

float x = float.MaxValue;

I have the result: 3.40282347E+38

What is E+38? how can I represent the maximum number without this symbol?

msdn says RANGE: ±1.5 × 10^−45 to ±3.4 × 10^38, but that did not help me.

Do you wish to represent this in a string? What do you mean by "represent"? — Adriaan Stander
– Adriaan Stander, Commented Aug 8, 2012 at 4:49

Dan · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-08 04:52:23Z

39

The "E+38" format is the default. If you'd like to see the whole number, specify a different format like this:

float.MaxValue.ToString("#")

This will result in:

340282300000000000000000000000000000000

Here are some additional formats: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.globalization.numberformatinfo.aspx

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 4:52

Dan

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3 Comments

Dan Over a year ago

No problem. If you want commas, use "#,#" or "N".

Alexey Frunze Over a year ago

The "whole number" is 340282346638528859811704183484516925440.

H Aßdøµ Over a year ago

@Dan The best answer I have seen in questions like this. Can you show how to do this in C++?

Adam Porad · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-04 18:31:23Z

13

This is called E-Notation (exponential notation), and is used with scientific notation.

From the E Notation section of the Wikipedia article on Scientific Notation:

Because super-scripted exponents like 10^7 cannot always be conveniently displayed, the letter E or e is often used to represent times ten raised to the power of (which would be written as "x 10^b") and is followed by the value of the exponent.

So, 3.40282347E+38 equals 3.40282347 * 10³⁸ and would be read "3.40282347 times 10 to the power of 38".

edited Jan 4, 2019 at 18:31

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 4:53

Adam Porad

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Comments

Habib · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-08 04:53:24Z

6

Try the following code:

float f = float.MaxValue;
Console.WriteLine("Origianl Value: " + f);
Console.WriteLine("With Zeros:" + f.ToString("0"));

Value

Origianl Value: 3.402823E+38
With Zeros:340282300000000000000000000000000000000

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 4:53

Habib

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jb. · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-08 04:53:12Z

3

That is Scientific Notation.

5E+2 = 
5 x 10 ^ 2 = 
5 x 10 * 10 = 
5 * 100 =
500

In other words, that's how many decimal places you move the decimal point to calculate the result. Take 5, move it over 2 places, end up with 500. In your example, you need to take your number, 3.40282347 and move the decimal place over 38 times!

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 4:53

jb.

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LOZ · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-08 04:57:35Z

2

3.4e38 is 3.4 * 10^38 or 340000000000 ... (37 zeros)

additional information:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b1e65aza(v=vs.71).aspx

edited Aug 8, 2012 at 4:57

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 4:50

LOZ

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Frederik Gheysels · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-08 04:52:26Z

1

It's approx. 340 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

If you use Dan's code, you'll get this as a result:

340282300000000000000000000000000000000

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 4:52

Frederik Gheysels

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user15921561 · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-14 02:21:39Z

1

The maximum number of the float without exponent is: 340282356779733661637539395458142568447.9f

answered May 14, 2021 at 2:21

user15921561

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Alexander Higgins Over a year ago

I think the c# compiler allows you to define that as a constant but after compilation it is truncated to float.maxvalue.

Vnsax · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-22 09:50:17Z

0

Old question, but here's the min and max in string format.

Using float.Parse
-340282356779733642999999999999999999999 to 340282356779733642999999999999999999999
Using float.MinValue.ToString("#") and float.MaxValue.ToString("#")
-340282300000000000000000000000000000000 to 340282300000000000000000000000000000000
Using float.MinValue.ToString() and float.MaxValue.ToString()
-3.402823E+38 to 3.402823E+38

answered Dec 22, 2018 at 9:50

Vnsax

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Alexander Higgins · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-14 05:30:43Z

The answers showing float.MaxValue using ToString are not correct.

Those answers state float.MaxValue is : var f1 = 340282300000000000000000000000000000000f;

That is only is what C# produces when converting float.MaxValue to string.

However, float.MaxValue is defined in System.Single as 3.40282347E+38F

So the actual answer is:

var f2 = 340282347000000000000000000000000000000f;

Also note, a compile defect will allow constant values higher than this to be used as a float. However upon compliation, C# will trunacted those values to float.MaxValue. For example:

var f3 = 340282356699999999999999999999999999999f;
var f4 = 340282356760000000000000000000000000000f;
var f5 = 340282356779733661637539395458142568447.9f;

Here f5 (340282356779733661637539395458142568447.9f) is the actual maximum constant you can define. Again, this is truncated to float.MaxValue.

This can all be verified:

var equals_1 = f1 == f; // false
var equals_2 = f2 == float.MaxValue; // true
var equals_3 = f3 == float.MaxValue; // true
var equals_4 = f3 == float.MaxValue; // true
var equals_4 = f5 == float.MaxValue; // true

sigkillgit · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-01 21:21:11Z

-1

Sorry to necro an old thread but google lead me here and I didn't find a satisfactory answer. I'm sure google will lead someone else here.

The float.h library includes the maximum values for float and others in c. FLOAT_MAX is equal to 340282346638528859811704183484516925440, that is the maximum value that float can store.

I'm not an expert in C but I would imagine this value is universal and wouldn't depend on a x32 or x64 operating system.

answered Sep 1, 2020 at 21:21

sigkillgit

19

3 Comments

Paul Roub Over a year ago

(a) FLT_MAX -- not FLOAT_MAX -- actually does vary from system to system, or compiler to compiler, although it's at least 1E+37 (b) this question is about C#, not C.

wilson0x4d Over a year ago

first, this should be its own question. second, the max value of an IEEE floating point value is defined by international standard. it's impossible to store "all values in range" within a 32bit space and loss of precision occurs values greater than approximately 2^24 -- a similar loss of precision happens to fraction values. again this is because the available binary space for storage, and, .NET follows IEEE 754-1985 rounding rules. A new standard was published in 2008. Either way, float can store values greater than 340282346638528859811704183484516925440 with significant loss of precision.

wilson0x4d Over a year ago

this is neither language-specific nor platform/architecture-specific. the choice of what to provide in constants found in various sources is not dictated by IEEE standard, and will vary. by spec, the FLT_MAX in your C distribution is technically incorrect, it is too large a value to store in a 32bit space and necessarily would be rounded. the largest normal integer which can be stored in a 32bit space (unsigned) is 4,294,967,295 (anything greater than this demands loss of precision.)

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