minint

#minint

##Syntax minint : int

##Description The minint function is used to determine the smallest integer (int) that can be used in a program.

##Example This program outputs the maximum integer.

    put "The smallest integer that can be used is ", minint

##Details In current implementations, int values are stored in 4 bytes, i.e., 32 bits. This determines the minimum int value, which is -2**31-1, equaling -2147483647.

There is an anomaly in computer arithmetic in that the absolute value of the largest negative integer is one larger than maxint. Turing reserves this extra value to represent the uninitialized integer. This value can be computed but any attempt to assign it to an int variable is detected as an overflow. You can use this extra value by using the int4 type instead of int, but this type has no initialization checking.

##See also minnat.html and maxint.html.

See also predefined unit limitsmodule.html.