Number Handling

This document describes how the library is handling numbers.

Background

This section briefly summarizes how the JSON specification describes how numbers should be handled.

JSON number syntax

JSON defines the syntax of numbers as follows:

!!! quote “RFC 8259, Section 6”

The representation of numbers is similar to that used in most
programming languages.  A number is represented in base 10 using
decimal digits.  It contains an integer component that may be
prefixed with an optional minus sign, which may be followed by a
fraction part and/or an exponent part.  Leading zeros are not
allowed.

A fraction part is a decimal point followed by one or more digits.

An exponent part begins with the letter E in uppercase or lowercase,
which may be followed by a plus or minus sign.  The E and optional
sign are followed by one or more digits.

The following railroad diagram from json.org visualizes the number syntax:

Syntax for JSON numbers

Number interoperability

On number interoperability, the following remarks are made:

!!! quote “RFC 8259, Section 6”

This specification allows implementations to set limits on the range
and precision of numbers accepted.  Since software that implements
IEEE 754 binary64 (double precision) numbers [IEEE754] is generally
available and widely used, good interoperability can be achieved by
implementations that expect no more precision or range than these
provide, in the sense that implementations will approximate JSON
numbers within the expected precision.  A JSON number such as 1E400
or 3.141592653589793238462643383279 may indicate potential
interoperability problems, since it suggests that the software that
created it expects receiving software to have greater capabilities
for numeric magnitude and precision than is widely available.

Note that when such software is used, numbers that are integers and
are in the range $[-2^{53}+1, 2^{53}-1]$ are interoperable in the
sense that implementations will agree exactly on their numeric
values.

Library implementation

This section describes how the above number specification is implemented by this library.

Number storage

In the default json type, numbers are stored as #!c std::uint64_t, #!c std::int64_t, and #!c double, respectively. Thereby, #!c std::uint64_t and #!c std::int64_t are used only if they can store the number without loss of precision. If this is impossible (e.g., if the number is too large), the number is stored as #!c double.

!!! info “Notes”

- Numbers with a decimal digit or scientific notation are always stored as `#!c double`.
- The number types can be changed, see [Template number types](#template-number-types). 
- As of version 3.9.1, the conversion is realized by
  [`std::strtoull`](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/string/byte/strtoul),
  [`std::strtoll`](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/string/byte/strtol), and
  [`std::strtod`](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/string/byte/strtof), respectively.

!!! example “Examples”

- Integer `#!c -12345678912345789123456789` is smaller than `#!c INT64_MIN` and will be stored as floating-point
  number `#!c -1.2345678912345788e+25`.
- Integer `#!c 1E3` will be stored as floating-point number `#!c 1000.0`.

Number limits

Any 64 bit signed or unsigned integer can be stored without loss of precision.
Numbers exceeding the limits of #!c double (i.e., numbers that after conversion via std::strtod are not satisfying std::isfinite such as #!c 1E400) will throw exception json.exception.out_of_range.406 during parsing.
Floating-point numbers are rounded to the next number representable as double. For instance #!c 3.141592653589793238462643383279 is stored as 0x400921fb54442d18. This is the same behavior as the code #!c double x = 3.141592653589793238462643383279;.

!!! success “Interoperability”

- The library interoperable with respect to the specification, because its supported range $[-2^{63}, 2^{64}-1]$ is
  larger than the described range $[-2^{53}+1, 2^{53}-1]$.
- All integers outside the range $[-2^{63}, 2^{64}-1]$, as well as floating-point numbers are stored as `double`.
  This also concurs with the specification above.

Zeros

The JSON number grammar allows for different ways to express zero, and this library will store zeros differently:

Literal	Stored value and type	Serialization
`0`	`#!c std::uint64_t(0)`	`0`
`-0`	`#!c std::int64_t(0)`	`0`
`0.0`	`#!c double(0.0)`	`0.0`
`-0.0`	`#!c double(-0.0)`	`-0.0`
`0E0`	`#!c double(0.0)`	`0.0`
`-0E0`	`#!c double(-0.0)`	`-0.0`

That is, -0 is stored as a signed integer, but the serialization does not reproduce the -.

Number serialization

Integer numbers are serialized as is; that is, no scientific notation is used.
Floating-point numbers are serialized as specified by the #!c %g printf modifier with std::numeric_limits<double>::max_digits10 significant digits). The rationale is to use the shortest representation while still allow round-tripping.

!!! hint “Notes regarding precision of floating-point numbers”

As described above, floating-point numbers are rounded to the nearest double and serialized with the shortest
representation to allow round-tripping. This can yield confusing examples:

- The serialization can have fewer decimal places than the input: `#!c 2555.5599999999999` will be serialized as
  `#!c 2555.56`. The reverse can also be true.
- The serialization can be in scientific notation even if the input is not: `#!c 0.0000972439793401814` will be 
  serialized as `#!c 9.72439793401814e-05`. The reverse can also be true: `#!c 12345E-5` will be serialized as
  `#!c 0.12345`.
- Conversions from `#!c float` to `#!c double` can also introduce rouding errors:
    ```cpp
    float f = 0.3;
    json j = f;
    std::cout << j << '\n';
    ```
    yields `#!c 0.30000001192092896`.

All examples here can be reproduced by passing the original double value to

```cpp
std::printf("%.*g\n", std::numeric_limits<double>::max_digits10, double_value);
```

NaN handling

NaN (not-a-number) cannot be expressed with the number syntax described above and are in fact explicitly excluded:

!!! quote “RFC 8259, Section 6”

Numeric values that cannot be represented in the grammar below (such
as Infinity and NaN) are not permitted.

That is, there is no way to parse a NaN value. However, NaN values can be stored in a JSON value by assignment.

This library serializes NaN values as #!js null. This corresponds to the behavior of JavaScript's JSON.stringify function.

!!! example

The following example shows how a NaN value is stored in a `json` value.

```cpp
int main()
{
    double val = std::numeric_limits<double>::quiet_NaN();
    std::cout << "val=" << val << std::endl;
    json j = val;
    std::cout << "j=" << j.dump() << std::endl;
    val = j;
    std::cout << "val=" << val << std::endl;
}
```

output:

```
val=nan
j=null
val=nan
```

Number comparison

Floating-point inside JSON values numbers are compared with #!c json::number_float_t::operator== which is #!c double::operator== by default.

!!! example “Alternative comparison functions”

To compare floating-point while respecting an epsilon, an alternative
[comparison function](https://github.com/mariokonrad/marnav/blob/master/include/marnav/math/floatingpoint.hpp#L34-#L39)
could be used, for instance

```cpp
template<typename T, typename = typename std::enable_if<std::is_floating_point<T>::value, T>::type>
inline bool is_same(T a, T b, T epsilon = std::numeric_limits<T>::epsilon()) noexcept
{
    return std::abs(a - b) <= epsilon;
}
```
Or you can self-define an operator equal function like this:

```cpp
bool my_equal(const_reference lhs, const_reference rhs)
{
    const auto lhs_type lhs.type();
    const auto rhs_type rhs.type();
    if (lhs_type == rhs_type)
    {
        switch(lhs_type)
        {
            // self_defined case
            case value_t::number_float:
                return std::abs(lhs - rhs) <= std::numeric_limits<float>::epsilon();
    
            // other cases remain the same with the original
            ...
        }
    }
    ...
}
```

(see [#703](https://github.com/nlohmann/json/issues/703) for more information.)

!!! note

NaN values never compare equal to themselves or to other NaN values. See [#514](https://github.com/nlohmann/json/issues/514).

Number conversion

Just like the C++ language itself, the get family of functions allows conversions between unsigned and signed integers, and between integers and floating-point values to integers. This behavior may be surprising.

!!! warning “Unconditional number conversions”

```cpp hl_lines="3"
double d = 42.3;                          // non-integer double value 42.3
json jd = d;                              // stores double value 42.3
std::int64_t i = jd.get<std::int64_t>();  // now i==42; no warning or error is produced
```

Note the last line with throw a [`json.exception.type_error.302`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error302)
exception if `jd` is not a numerical type, for instance a string.

The rationale is twofold:

JSON does not define a number type or precision (see #json-specification).
C++ also allows to silently convert between number types.

!!! success “Conditional number conversion”

The code above can be solved by explicitly checking the nature of the value with members such as
[`is_number_integer()`](../../api/basic_json/is_number_integer.md) or
[`is_number_unsigned()`](../../api/basic_json/is_number_unsigned.md):

```cpp hl_lines="2"
// check if jd is really integer-valued
if (jd.is_number_integer())
{
    // if so, do the conversion and use i
    std::int64_t i = jd.get<std::int64_t>();
    // ...
}
else
{
    // otherwise, take appropriate action
    // ...
}
```

Note this approach also has the advantage that it can react on non-numerical JSON value types such as strings.

(Example taken from [#777](https://github.com/nlohmann/json/issues/777#issuecomment-459968458).)

Determine number types

As the example in Number conversion shows, there are different functions to determine the type of the stored number:

is_number() returns #!c true for any number type
is_number_integer() returns #!c true for signed and unsigned integers
is_number_unsigned() returns #!c true for unsigned integers only
is_number_float() returns #!c true for floating-point numbers
type_name() returns #!c "number" for any number type
type() returns an different enumerator of value_t for all number types

function	unsigned integer	signed integer	floating-point	string
`is_number()`	`#!c true`	`#!c true`	`#!c true`	`#!c false`
`is_number_integer()`	`#!c true`	`#!c true`	`#!c false`	`#!c false`
`is_number_unsigned()`	`#!c true`	`#!c false`	`#!c false`	`#!c false`
`is_number_float()`	`#!c false`	`#!c false`	`#!c true`	`#!c false`
`type_name()`	`#!c "number"`	`#!c "number"`	`#!c "number"`	`#!c "string"`
`type()`	`number_unsigned`	`number_integer`	`number_float`	`string`

Template number types

The number types can be changed with template parameters.

position	number type	default type	possible values
5	signed integers	`#!c std::int64_t`	`#!c std::int32_t`, `#!c std::int16_t`, etc.
6	unsigned integers	`#!c std::uint64_t`	`#!c std::uint32_t`, `#!c std::uint16_t`, etc.
7	floating-point	`#!c double`	`#!c float`, `#!c long double`

!!! info “Constraints on number types”

- The type for signed integers must be convertible from `#!c long long`. The type for floating-point numbers is used
  in case of overflow.
- The type for unsigned integers must be convertible from `#!c unsigned long long`.  The type for floating-point
  numbers is used in case of overflow.
- The types for signed and unsigned integers must be distinct, see
  [#2573](https://github.com/nlohmann/json/issues/2573).
- Only `#!c double`, `#!c float`, and `#!c long double` are supported for floating-point numbers.

!!! example

A `basic_json` type that uses `#!c long double` as floating-point type.

```cpp hl_lines="2"
using json_ld = nlohmann::basic_json<std::map, std::vector, std::string, bool,
                                     std::int64_t, std::uint64_t, long double>;
```

Note values should then be parsed with `json_ld::parse` rather than `json::parse` as the latter would parse
floating-point values to `#!c double` before then converting them to `#!c long double`.