abs.adoc

title	categories	subCategories
abs()	Functions	Math

abs(x)

Description

Calculates the absolute value of a number.

Syntax

abs(x)

Parameters

x: the number

Returns

x: if x is greater than or equal to 0.
-x: if x is less than 0.

Example Code

Prints the absolute value of variable a to the Serial Monitor.

int a = 5;
float absolute = 0.0;

void setup() {
   Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
   a++; //Adds one to the variable a
   absolute = abs(a); //Stores the absolute value of the variable a to the variable absolute
   Serial.println(absolute); //Prints to the Serial Monitor the value of the variable absolute
}

Notes and Warnings

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

abs(a++); // avoid this - yields incorrect results

// use this instead:
abs(a);
a++;  // keep other math outside the function

See also