minimum of float in c++

Question

I want to get a minimum of float without using std::numeric_limits<T>::lowest() [c++11]

so I intend to do the following. -std::numeric_limits<T>::max() can I use it like this?

Answer 1

Yes you can use -std::numeric_limits<T>::max(). To make sure it is safe in the future, add a unit test to your project to confirm that -std::numeric_limits<T>::max() is the same as std::numeric_limits<T>::lowest() for float and double (or whatever floating point types you are using).

If your T is actually some user- or library-defined type, it may not be safe to do this...but then your unit tests would flag it.