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BigInteger.Compare(BigInteger, BigInteger) Method

  • Reference

Definition

Namespace:
System.Numerics
Assembly:
System.Runtime.Numerics.dll
Assembly:
System.Numerics.dll
Assembly:
netstandard.dll
Source:
BigInteger.cs
Source:
BigInteger.cs
Source:
BigInteger.cs

Compares two BigInteger values and returns an integer that indicates whether the first value is less than, equal to, or greater than the second value.

public:
 static int Compare(System::Numerics::BigInteger left, System::Numerics::BigInteger right);
public static int Compare (System.Numerics.BigInteger left, System.Numerics.BigInteger right);
static member Compare : System.Numerics.BigInteger * System.Numerics.BigInteger -> int
Public Shared Function Compare (left As BigInteger, right As BigInteger) As Integer

Parameters

left
BigInteger

The first value to compare.

right
BigInteger

The second value to compare.

Returns

Int32

A signed integer that indicates the relative values of left and right, as shown in the following table.

Value Condition
Less than zero left is less than right.
Zero left equals right.
Greater than zero left is greater than right.

Remarks

Although the BigInteger type has no fixed range, comparisons of BigInteger values are not characterized by the lack of precision that characterizes the comparison of floating-point numbers. The following example compares two BigInteger values that differ by one and that each have 1,896 digits. The Compare method correctly reports that the two values are not equal.

BigInteger number1 = BigInteger.Pow(Int64.MaxValue, 100);
BigInteger number2 = number1 + 1;
string relation = "";
switch (BigInteger.Compare(number1, number2))
{
   case -1:
      relation = "<";
      break;
   case 0:
      relation = "=";
      break;
   case 1:
      relation = ">";
      break;
}
Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", number1, relation, number2);
// The example displays the following output:
//    3.0829940252776347122742186219E+1896 < 3.0829940252776347122742186219E+1896

let number1 = BigInteger.Pow(int64 System.Int64.MaxValue, 100)
let number2 = number1 + 1I
let relation = 
    match BigInteger.Compare(number1, number2) with
    | -1 -> "<"
    | 0 -> "="
    | 1 | _ -> ">"

printfn $"{number1} {relation} {number2}"
// The example displays the following output:
//    3.0829940252776347122742186219E+1896 < 3.0829940252776347122742186219E+1896

Dim number1 As BigInteger = BigInteger.Pow(Int64.MaxValue, 100)
Dim number2 As BigInteger = number1 + 1
Dim relation As String = ""
Select Case BigInteger.Compare(number1, number2)
   Case -1
      relation = "<"
   Case 0
      relation = "="
   Case 1
      relation = ">"
End Select            
Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", number1, relation, number2)
' The example displays the following output:
'    3.0829940252776347122742186219E+1896 < 3.0829940252776347122742186219E+1896

Applies to

See also