std::less

 

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Operator wrappers plus minus negate multiplies divides modulus bit_and bit_or bit_not (C++14)   bit_xor equal_to not_equal_to greater less greater_equal less_equal logical_and logical_or logical_not	Transparent operator wrappers plus<> (C++14) minus<> (C++14) negate<> (C++14) multiplies<> (C++14)   divides<> (C++14) modulus<> (C++14) bit_and<> (C++14) bit_or<> (C++14) bit_not<> (C++14) bit_xor<> (C++14) equal_to<> (C++14) not_equal_to<> (C++14) greater<> (C++14) less<> (C++14) greater_equal<> (C++14) less_equal<> (C++14) logical_and<> (C++14) logical_or<> (C++14) logical_not<> (C++14)
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unary_function (until C++17*) binary_function (until C++17*) ptr_fun (until C++17*) pointer_to_unary_function (until C++17*) pointer_to_binary_function (until C++17*)   mem_fun (until C++17*) mem_fun_tmem_fun1_tconst_mem_fun_tconst_mem_fun1_t (until C++17*)(until C++17*)(until C++17*)(until C++17*) not1 (until C++20*) not2 (until C++20*)	binder1stbinder2nd (until C++17*)(until C++17*) bind1stbind2nd (until C++17*)(until C++17*) mem_fun_ref (until C++17*) mem_fun_ref_tmem_fun1_ref_tconst_mem_fun_ref_tconst_mem_fun1_ref_t (until C++17*)(until C++17*)(until C++17*)(until C++17*) unary_negate (until C++20*) binary_negate (until C++20*)

 

Defined in header <functional>
template< class T > struct less;		(until C++14)
template< class T = void > struct less;		(since C++14)

Function object for performing comparisons. The main template invokes operator< on type T.

Specializations

less<void> (C++14)

function object implementing x < y deducing parameter and return types (class template specialization)

Member types

Type	Definition
result_type (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	bool
first_argument_type (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	T
second_argument_type (deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20)	T

These member types are obtained via publicly inheriting std::binary_function<T, T, bool>.

(until C++11)

Member functions

operator()

checks whether the first argument is less than the second (public member function)

std::less::operator()

bool operator()( const T& lhs, const T& rhs ) const;		(constexpr since C++14)

Checks whether lhs is less than rhs.

Parameters

lhs, rhs

-

values to compare

Return value

lhs < rhs.

If T is a pointer type, the result is consistent with the implementation-defined strict total order over pointers.

Exceptions

May throw implementation-defined exceptions.

Possible implementation

constexpr bool operator()(const T& lhs, const T& rhs) const { return lhs < rhs; // assumes that the implementation handles pointer total order }

Example

Run this code

#include <functional>
 
template<typename A, typename B, typename C = std::less<>>
constexpr bool fun(A a, B b, C cmp = C{})
{
    return cmp(a, b);
}
 
static_assert(fun(1, 2) == true);
static_assert(fun(1.0, 1) == false);
static_assert(fun(1, 2.0) == true);
static_assert(std::less<int>{}(5, 5.6) == false);   // 5 < 5 (warn: implicit conversion)
static_assert(std::less<double>{}(5, 5.6) == true); // 5.0 < 5.6
static_assert(std::less<int>{}(5.6, 5.7) == false); // 5 < 5 (warn: implicit conversion)
static_assert(std::less{}(5, 5.6) == true);         // less<void>: 5.0 < 5.6
 
int main() {}

Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.

DR	Applied to	Behavior as published	Correct behavior
LWG 2562	C++98	the pointer total order might be inconsistent	guaranteed to be consistent

See also

equal_to	function object implementing x == y (class template)
greater	function object implementing x > y (class template)
ranges::less (C++20)	constrained function object implementing x < y (class)