std::min

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Defined in header <algorithm>
template< class T > const T& min( const T& a, const T& b );	(1)
template< class T, class Compare > const T& min( const T& a, const T& b, Compare comp );	(2)
template< class T > T min( std::initializer_list<T> ilist);	(3)	(since C++11)
template< class T, class Compare > T min( std::initializer_list<T> ilist, Compare comp );	(4)	(since C++11)

1-2) Returns the smaller of the two values.

3-4) Returns the smallest of the values in initializer list ilist.

The (1,3) versions use operator< to compare the values, the (2,4) versions use the given comparison function comp.

Parameters

a, b	-	the values to compare
ilist	-	initializer list with the values to compare
cmp	-	comparison function which returns ​true if if a is less than b. The signature of the comparison function should be equivalent to the following: bool cmp(const Type1 &a, const Type2 &b); The signature does not need to have const &, but the function must not modify the objects passed to it. The types  Type1 and  Type2 must be such that an object of type T can be implicitly converted to both of them. ​

Return value

1-2) The smaller of a and b. If the values are equivalent, returns a.

3-4) The smallest value in ilist. If several values are equivalent to the smallest, returns the leftmost such value.

Complexity

1-2) Constant

3-4) Linear in ilist.size()

Possible implementation

First version
template<class T> const T& min(const T& a, const T& b) { return (a < b) ? a : b; }
Second version
template<class T, class Compare> const T& min(const T& a, const T& b, Compare comp) { return (comp(a, b)) ? a : b; }
Third version
template<class T> T min( std::initializer_list<T> ilist) { return *std::min_element(ilist.begin(), ilist.end()); }
Fourth version
template<class T, class Compare> T min(std::initializer_list<T> ilist, Compare comp) { return *std::min_element(ilist.begin(), ilist.end(), comp); }

Example

#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    std::cout << "smaller of 1 and 9999: " << std::min(1, 9999) << '\n';
    std::cout << "smaller of 'a' and 'b': " << std::min('a', 'b') << '\n';
    std::cout << "smaller of 3.5 and 2.5: " << std::min(3.5, 2.5) << '\n';
}

Output:

smaller of 1 and 9999: 1
smaller of 'a' and 'b': a
smaller of 3.5 and 2.5: 2.5

See also

max	returns the larger of two elements (function template)
minmax (C++11)	returns the larger and the smaller of two elements (function template)
min_element	returns the smallest element in a range (function template)