How to find the minimum and maximum value for a data type in Python?

Question

I want to check the range for a given NumPy data type, e.g. uint16. Is there any function to check it?

Answer 1

There are two NumPy functions iinfo() and finfo() for this task. The iinfo() function returns the machine limits for integer types, whereas finfo() function returns the machine limits for floating point types. You can see the upper limit and lower limit allowed by the machine for a given data type using these functions.

Here are some examples

>>> import numpy as np

>>> np.iinfo(np.uint16)

iinfo(min=0, max=65535, dtype=uint16)

>>> np.iinfo(np.int8)

iinfo(min=-128, max=127, dtype=int8)

>>> np.finfo(np.float16)

finfo(resolution=0.001, min=-6.55040e+04, max=6.55040e+04, dtype=float16)

>>> np.finfo(np.float32)

finfo(resolution=1e-06, min=-3.4028235e+38, max=3.4028235e+38, dtype=float32)

>>> np.iinfo(np.uint32)

iinfo(min=0, max=4294967295, dtype=uint32)

>>>