Java – Find Absolute Value of Float – abs() Method with Examples

abs() method exists in Math class of java.lang package.
Since: JDK1.0

The declaration of abs() method is:

public static float abs(float a)

The syntax of abs() method in Java is:

 
java.lang.Math.abs(float x)

Example

/*
*Find the absolute value of given input(float) without importing the 
java.lang Package.
*/
public class JavaMathExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        //Declaring variables
        float x = -4876.1874f;
        float result;
        //Assign absolute value of x to result variable
        result = java.lang.Math.abs(x);
        //Printing result to the console
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Output:

4876.1875

Example
By importing java.lang package the syntax of abs() method can be used as:

/*
*Find the absolute value of given input(float) by importing the java.lang Package.
*/
import java.lang.*;  //importing package

public class JavaMathExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        //Declaring variables
        float x = -68.97F;
        float result;
        
        //Assign absolute value of x to result variable
        result = Math.abs(x);
        
        //Printing result to the console
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Output:

68.97


If the argument is positive zero or negative zero, the result is positive zero.
If the argument is infinite, the result is positive infinity.
If the argument is NaN, the result is NaN.
Example

/*
*This example shows some special cases of abs() method in Java
*/
import java.lang.*; //importing java.lang package

public class JavaMathExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //Declaring variables
        float positiveZero = 0;
        float negativeZero = -0;
        float positiveInfinity = Float.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
        float negativeInfinity = Float.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
        float nan = Float.NaN;
        float result;

        //Here argument is positive zero, output will also be positive zero
        result = Math.abs(positiveZero);
        System.out.println(result);

        //Here argument is negative zero, output will be positive zero
        result = Math.abs(negativeZero);
        System.out.println(result);

        //Here argument is positive infinity, output will also be positive infinity
        result = Math.abs(positiveInfinity);
        System.out.println(result);

        //Here argument is negative infinity, output will be negative infinity
        result = Math.abs(negativeInfinity);
        System.out.println(result);

        //Here argument is NaN, output will be NaN
        result = Math.abs(nan);
        System.out.println(result);


    }

}

Output:

0.0
0.0
Infinity
Infinity
NaN


x – Where x is any valid float input value. This parameter is required.

If the x parameter is not a number abs() method returns an error.
If there is no argument (x – input value) passes to the method, the compiler will produce an error.
Example

/*
*This example returns a compile time error
*/
import java.lang.*; //importing java.lang package

public class JavaMathExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        //Declaring variables
        String x = "Not a number";
        float result;

        //argument is not a number
        result = Math.abs(x);
        System.out.println(result);

        //Here no argument is used
        result = Math.abs();
        System.out.println(result);


    }

}

Output:
Error

abs() method returns the absolute value of a float value for the given input (x – parameter).

import java.lang.*; //importing java.lang package

public class JavaMathExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        float negativeValue = -18.869f;
        float positiveValue = 27.78639f;
        float zero = 0;
        System.out.println("absolute value of a Negative Value: "+Math.abs(negativeValue));
        System.out.println("absolute value of a Positive Value: "+Math.abs(positiveValue));
        System.out.println("absolute value of Zero: "+Math.abs(zero));

    }
}

Output:

absolute value of a Negative Value: 18.869
absolute value of a Positive Value: 27.78639
absolute value of Zero: 0.0


import java.lang.*; //importing java.lang package

public class JavaMathExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        //Declare and initialize an array containing float values
        float test [] = { Float.MAX_VALUE, Float.MIN_VALUE, 
		Float.NaN, Float.MIN_EXPONENT, 42.867e-12f, 16.852f, 0, -2.58f, -78.8569e7f };

        //Use for loop to print absolute value of each element of the array
        for (int i=0; i < test.length; i++) {
            System.out.println(  Math.abs(test[i])  );
        }

    }
}

Output:

3.4028235E38
1.4E-45
NaN
126.0
4.2867E-11
16.852
0.0
2.58
7.8856902E8