Does Passing Negative Numbers to PHP hypot Cause Errors? Common Questions Explained

gitbox 2025-10-01

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returns the value of $\sqrt{x^2 + y^2}$ , effectively calculating the Pythagorean theorem result.

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1. Will Negative Inputs Cause Errors?

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The answer is no. The hypot() function internally squares the input values, sums them, and then takes the square root. Since squaring converts negative numbers into non-negative numbers, passing negative numbers will not cause any errors.

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Example:

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echo hypot(3, -4); // Outputs 5<br>
echo hypot(-3, -4); // Outputs 5<br>

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2. Common Misconceptions

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Thinking negative numbers cause errors: As mentioned above, PHP handles negative numbers correctly.
Confusing with sqrt(): sqrt(-1) will cause an error because the square root of a negative number is invalid. However, hypot() squares first and then takes the square root, avoiding this issue.

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3. Pay Attention to Floating-Point Precision

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Although hypot() can handle negative numbers, very large or very small floating-point values may still introduce precision issues. This is a general limitation of floating-point arithmetic and unrelated to negative inputs.

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4. Summary

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PHP's hypot() function fully supports negative inputs and will not cause errors. When using it, just be mindful of floating-point precision.

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