How to find out the max value for Int in Swift

Question

I want to understand how to access the "struct" type of Int. When I cmd-clicked Int it took me to this class, i want to find out what is the maximum value this can hold. Is there a way to pull from one of this properties ?. what is max and min in this structure ?

struct Int : SignedInteger {
    var value: Builtin.Word
    init()
    init(_ v: Builtin.Word)
    init(_ value: Int)
    static func convertFromIntegerLiteral(value: Int) -> Int
    typealias ArrayBoundType = Int
    func getArrayBoundValue() -> Int
    static var max: Int { get }
    static var min: Int { get }
}

FYI for ordinary `Int` it's just `Int.max` – Fattie Mar 12 '17 at 15:22 — Fattie, Mar 12 '17 at 15:22

score 77 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 04 '14 at 06:40

77

“You can access the minimum and maximum values of each integer type with its min and max properties:

let minValue = UInt8.min  // minValue is equal to 0, and is of type UInt8
let maxValue = UInt8.max  // maxValue is equal to 255, and is of type UInt8

The values of these properties are of the appropriate-sized number type (such as UInt8 in the example above) and can therefore be used in expressions alongside other values of the same type.”

Excerpt From: Apple Inc. “The Swift Programming Language.” iBooks. https://itun.es/in/jEUH0.

answered Jun 04 '14 at 06:40

iPatel

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Thanks i got it, here is a query, why should it always be with the class name ? can't a instance, that is say "let intTemp : Int = 56;" can't i access intTemp.min or intTemp.max ? why it is not allowing me to do so ? – thndrkiss Jun 04 '14 at 06:43
2

@thndrkiss - This is very new language for all of us so honestly I don't know why we does not able to use instance *(such like `intTemp.max`)* . But here we only accept it as design/syntax of **Swift Language**. – iPatel Jun 04 '14 at 06:47
@thndrkiss I haven't downloaded the new sdk but it seems that `min` or `max` could be static property – Inder Kumar Rathore Jun 04 '14 at 07:32

score 28 · Answer 2 · answered May 07 '18 at 06:44

28

Try this in Swift 3:

let value = Int.max

answered May 07 '18 at 06:44

Shadros

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score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 04 '14 at 06:41

You can access the minimum and maximum values of each integer type with its min and max properties:

let minValue = UInt8.min  // minValue is equal to 0, and is of type UInt8
let maxValue = UInt8.max  // maxValue is equal to 255, and is of type UInt8

The values of these properties are of the appropriate-sized number type (such as UInt8 in the example above) and can therefore be used in expressions alongside other values of the same type.

from: https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/TheBasics.html

joakim · Answer 4 · 2014-10-28T23:42:46.737

You can access these as static properties as suggested in other answers.

I see in some comments people are wondering why you can't access them as instance variables.

This is like asking "what is the max value of 5?" and expecting a sensible answer.

One of the main uses for these variables is guarding against integer overflows.

Something along the lines of "if I add something to this integer that makes it bigger than Int.max i.e. it triggers an overflow " and act accordingly.

More on how Apple address the issue of integer overflows here.

How to find out the max value for Int in Swift

4 Answers4