Cookbooks
C++
Chapter 3. Numbers
Rounding numbers

C++:
Rounding numbers

How to:

C++ offers several ways to round numbers, like floor(), ceil(), and round():

#include <iostream>
#include <cmath> // for rounding functions

int main() {
    double num = 3.14;

    std::cout << "floor: " << std::floor(num) << "\n"; // Output: floor: 3
    std::cout << "ceil: " << std::ceil(num) << "\n";   // Output: ceil: 4
    std::cout << "round: " << std::round(num) << "\n"; // Output: round: 3

    // For fixed precision, such as rounding to two decimals:
    double precise_num = 3.146;
    double multiplier = 100.0;
    double rounded = std::round(precise_num * multiplier) / multiplier;

    std::cout << "rounded to two decimals: " << rounded << "\n"; // Output: rounded to two decimals: 3.15

    return 0;
}

Deep Dive

Before C++11, rounding relied on manual techniques or non-standard libraries. Today, <cmath> provides robust methods. floor() rounds down, ceil() rounds up, whereas round() goes to the nearest integer, even handling tie-breaking (0.5 cases) by rounding to the even number.

Understanding the behavior of these functions is crucial; for instance, negative numbers could trip you up (std::round(-2.5) yields -2.0).

Alternatives? Casting to an int after adding 0.5 for positive numbers was a classic hack but errs with negatives and isn’t type-agnostic. Libraries like Boost can offer more nuanced approaches, while language extensions or compiler intrinsics can optimize for specific hardware.

See Also

Generating random numbersWorking with complex numbers