abs() function in C

The abs() function is used to calculate the absolute value of an integer. It’s a part of the C Standard Library and is declared in the stdlib.h header file.

The syntax of the abs() function is as follows:

int abs(int x);

• x: The integer value for which you want to calculate the absolute value.

The abs() function returns the absolute value of the integer passed as an argument. The absolute value of a number is its distance from zero on the number line, and it is always a non-negative value.

Here’s an example of how to use the abs() function:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {
    int num1 = -5;
    int num2 = 10;

    int abs_num1 = abs(num1);
    int abs_num2 = abs(num2);

    printf("Absolute value of %d is %d\n", num1, abs_num1);
    printf("Absolute value of %d is %d\n", num2, abs_num2);

    return 0;
}

In this example, we have two integers, num1 and num2. We use the abs() function to calculate their absolute values and then print the results. The output of this program will be:

Absolute value of -5 is 5
Absolute value of 10 is 10

Keep in mind that the abs() function works only with integers (int). If you need to calculate the absolute value of a floating-point number (e.g., float or double), you can use the fabs() function from the math.h header, which is specifically designed for floating-point numbers.