return the absolute value of a long integer

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INTERFACE

#include <stdlib.h>
long labs ( long j )

DESCRIPTION

The labs function returns the absolute value of the long integer j, denoted by |j| and defined through:

|j| :=
\left\{
\begin{array}{ll}
j, & j \geq 0, \\
-j, & j < 0.
\end{array} 
\right.
(1)

Example 1

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

int main()
{
  long int a = -231564565;
  printf("|a| = %ld\n", labs(a));
  return 0;
}

Output:

|a| = 231564565

SEE ALSO

abs, floor

BUGS

The absolute value of the most negative integer remains negative.