bigint(3perl) Perl Programmers Reference Guide bigint(3perl)
NAME
bigint - transparent big integer support for Perl
SYNOPSIS
use bigint;
$x = 2 + 4.5; # Math::BigInt 6
print 2 ** 512; # Math::BigInt 134...096
print inf + 42; # Math::BigInt inf
print NaN * 7; # Math::BigInt NaN
print hex("0x1234567890123490"); # Perl v5.10.0 or later
{
no bigint;
print 2 ** 256; # a normal Perl scalar now
}
# for older Perls, import into current package:
use bigint qw/hex oct/;
print hex("0x1234567890123490");
print oct("01234567890123490");
DESCRIPTION
All numeric literal in the given scope are converted to Math::BigInt
objects. Numeric literal that represent non-integers are truncated to
an integer. All results of expressions are also truncated to integer.
All operators (including basic math operations) except the range
operator ".." are overloaded.
Unlike the integer pragma, the "bigint" pragma creates integers that are
only limited in their size by the available memory.
So, the following:
use bigint;
$x = 1234;
creates a Math::BigInt and stores a reference to in $x. This happens
transparently and behind your back, so to speak.
You can see this with the following:
perl -Mbigint -le 'print ref(1234)'
Since numbers are actually objects, you can call all the usual methods
from Math::BigFloat on them. This even works to some extent on
expressions:
perl -Mbigint -le '$x = 1234; print $x->bdec()'
perl -Mbigint -le 'print 1234->copy()->binc();'
perl -Mbigint -le 'print 1234->copy()->binc->badd(6);'
perl -Mbigint -le 'print +(1234)->copy()->binc()'
(Note that print doesn't do what you expect if the expression starts
with '(' hence the "+")
You can even chain the operations together as usual:
perl -Mbigint -le 'print 1234->copy()->binc->badd(6);'
1241
Please note the following does not work as expected (prints nothing),
since overloading of '..' is not yet possible in Perl (as of v5.8.0):
perl -Mbigint -le 'for (1..2) { print ref($_); }'
use integer vs. use bigint
There are some difference between "use integer" and "use bigint".
Whereas "use integer" is limited to what can be handled as a Perl
scalar, "use bigint" can handle arbitrarily large integers.
Also, "use integer" does affect assignments to variables and the return
value of some functions. "use bigint" truncates these results to
integer:
# perl -Minteger -wle 'print 3.2'
3.2
# perl -Minteger -wle 'print 3.2 + 0'
3
# perl -Mbigint -wle 'print 3.2'
3
# perl -Mbigint -wle 'print 3.2 + 0'
3
# perl -Mbigint -wle 'print exp(1) + 0'
2
# perl -Mbigint -wle 'print exp(1)'
2
# perl -Minteger -wle 'print exp(1)'
2.71828182845905
# perl -Minteger -wle 'print exp(1) + 0'
2
In practice this seldom makes a difference for small integers as parts
and results of expressions are truncated anyway, but this can, for
instance, affect the return value of subroutines:
sub three_integer { use integer; return 3.2; }
sub three_bigint { use bigint; return 3.2; }
print three_integer(), " ", three_bigint(),"\n"; # prints "3.2 3"
Options
"bigint" recognizes some options that can be passed while loading it via
"use". The following options exist:
a or accuracy
This sets the accuracy for all math operations. The argument must be
greater than or equal to zero. See Math::BigInt's bround() method
for details.
perl -Mbigint=a,2 -le 'print 12345+1'
Note that setting precision and accuracy at the same time is not
possible.
p or precision
This sets the precision for all math operations. The argument can be
any integer. Negative values mean a fixed number of digits after the
dot, and are ignored since all operations happen in integer space. A
positive value rounds to this digit left from the dot. 0 means round
to integer. See Math::BigInt's bfround() method for details.
perl -mbigint=p,5 -le 'print 123456789+123'
Note that setting precision and accuracy at the same time is not
possible.
t or trace
This enables a trace mode and is primarily for debugging.
l, lib, try, or only
Load a different math lib, see "Math Library".
perl -Mbigint=l,GMP -e 'print 2 ** 512'
perl -Mbigint=lib,GMP -e 'print 2 ** 512'
perl -Mbigint=try,GMP -e 'print 2 ** 512'
perl -Mbigint=only,GMP -e 'print 2 ** 512'
hex Override the built-in hex() method with a version that can handle
big numbers. This overrides it by exporting it to the current
package. Under Perl v5.10.0 and higher, this is not necessary, as
hex() is lexically overridden in the current scope whenever the
"bigint" pragma is active.
oct Override the built-in oct() method with a version that can handle
big numbers. This overrides it by exporting it to the current
package. Under Perl v5.10.0 and higher, this is not so necessary, as
oct() is lexically overridden in the current scope whenever the
"bigint" pragma is active.
v or version
this prints out the name and version of the modules and then exits.
perl -Mbigint=v
Math Library
Math with the numbers is done (by default) by a backend library module
called Math::BigInt::Calc. The default is equivalent to saying:
use bigint lib => 'Calc';
you can change this by using:
use bigint lib => 'GMP';
The following would first try to find Math::BigInt::Foo, then
Math::BigInt::Bar, and if this also fails, revert to Math::BigInt::Calc:
use bigint lib => 'Foo,Math::BigInt::Bar';
Using c<lib> warns if none of the specified libraries can be found and
Math::BigInt fell back to one of the default libraries. To suppress this
warning, use c<try> instead:
use bigint try => 'GMP';
If you want the code to die instead of falling back, use "only" instead:
use bigint only => 'GMP';
Please see the respective module documentation for further details.
Method calls
Since all numbers are now objects, you can use all methods that are part
of the Math::BigInt API.
But a warning is in order. When using the following to make a copy of a
number, only a shallow copy will be made.
$x = 9; $y = $x;
$x = $y = 7;
Using the copy or the original with overloaded math is okay, e.g., the
following work:
$x = 9; $y = $x;
print $x + 1, " ", $y,"\n"; # prints 10 9
but calling any method that modifies the number directly will result in
both the original and the copy being destroyed:
$x = 9; $y = $x;
print $x->badd(1), " ", $y,"\n"; # prints 10 10
$x = 9; $y = $x;
print $x->binc(1), " ", $y,"\n"; # prints 10 10
$x = 9; $y = $x;
print $x->bmul(2), " ", $y,"\n"; # prints 18 18
Using methods that do not modify, but test that the contents works:
$x = 9; $y = $x;
$z = 9 if $x->is_zero(); # works fine
See the documentation about the copy constructor and "=" in overload, as
well as the documentation in Math::BigInt for further details.
Methods
inf()
A shortcut to return Math::BigInt->binf(). Useful because Perl does
not always handle bareword "inf" properly.
NaN()
A shortcut to return Math::BigInt->bnan(). Useful because Perl does
not always handle bareword "NaN" properly.
e
# perl -Mbigint=e -wle 'print e'
Returns Euler's number "e", aka exp(1). Note that under "bigint",
this is truncated to an integer, i.e., 2.
PI
# perl -Mbigint=PI -wle 'print PI'
Returns PI. Note that under "bigint", this is truncated to an
integer, i.e., 3.
bexp()
bexp($power, $accuracy);
Returns Euler's number "e" raised to the appropriate power, to the
wanted accuracy.
Note that under "bigint", the result is truncated to an integer.
Example:
# perl -Mbigint=bexp -wle 'print bexp(1,80)'
bpi()
bpi($accuracy);
Returns PI to the wanted accuracy. Note that under "bigint", this is
truncated to an integer, i.e., 3.
Example:
# perl -Mbigint=bpi -wle 'print bpi(80)'
accuracy()
Set or get the accuracy.
precision()
Set or get the precision.
round_mode()
Set or get the rounding mode.
div_scale()
Set or get the division scale.
in_effect()
use bigint;
print "in effect\n" if bigint::in_effect; # true
{
no bigint;
print "in effect\n" if bigint::in_effect; # false
}
Returns true or false if "bigint" is in effect in the current scope.
This method only works on Perl v5.9.4 or later.
CAVEATS
Hexadecimal, octal, and binary floating point literals
Perl (and this module) accepts hexadecimal, octal, and binary
floating point literals, but use them with care with Perl versions
before v5.32.0, because some versions of Perl silently give the
wrong result.
Operator vs literal overloading
"bigint" works by overloading handling of integer and floating point
literals, converting them to Math::BigInt objects.
This means that arithmetic involving only string values or string
literals are performed using Perl's built-in operators.
For example:
use bigint;
my $x = "900000000000000009";
my $y = "900000000000000007";
print $x - $y;
outputs 0 on default 32-bit builds, since "bigint" never sees the
string literals. To ensure the expression is all treated as
"Math::BigInt" objects, use a literal number in the expression:
print +(0+$x) - $y;
Ranges
Perl does not allow overloading of ranges, so you can neither safely
use ranges with "bigint" endpoints, nor is the iterator variable a
"Math::BigInt".
use 5.010;
for my $i (12..13) {
for my $j (20..21) {
say $i ** $j; # produces a floating-point number,
# not an object
}
}
in_effect()
This method only works on Perl v5.9.4 or later.
hex()/oct()
"bigint" overrides these routines with versions that can also handle
big integer values. Under Perl prior to version v5.9.4, however,
this will not happen unless you specifically ask for it with the two
import tags "hex" and "oct" - and then it will be global and cannot
be disabled inside a scope with "no bigint":
use bigint qw/hex oct/;
print hex("0x1234567890123456");
{
no bigint;
print hex("0x1234567890123456");
}
The second call to hex() will warn about a non-portable constant.
Compare this to:
use bigint;
# will warn only under Perl older than v5.9.4
print hex("0x1234567890123456");
EXAMPLES
Some cool command line examples to impress the Python crowd ;) You might
want to compare them to the results under -Mbigfloat or -Mbigrat:
perl -Mbigint -le 'print sqrt(33)'
perl -Mbigint -le 'print 2**255'
perl -Mbigint -le 'print 4.5+2**255'
perl -Mbigint -le 'print 123->is_odd()'
perl -Mbigint=l,GMP -le 'print 7 ** 7777'
BUGS
Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-bignum at
rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
<https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Create.html?Queue=bignum> (requires login).
We will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of
progress on your bug as I make changes.
SUPPORT
You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
perldoc bigint
You can also look for information at:
• GitHub
<https://github.com/pjacklam/p5-bignum>
• RT: CPAN's request tracker
<https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Name=bignum>
• MetaCPAN
<https://metacpan.org/release/bignum>
• CPAN Testers Matrix
<http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=bignum>
LICENSE
This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSO
bignum and bigrat.
Math::BigInt, Math::BigFloat, Math::BigRat and Math::Big as well as
Math::BigInt::FastCalc, Math::BigInt::Pari and Math::BigInt::GMP.
AUTHORS
• (C) by Tels <http://bloodgate.com/> in early 2002 - 2007.
• Maintained by Peter John Acklam <pjacklam@gmail.com>, 2014-.
perl v5.40.1 2026-08-30 bigint(3perl)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Sat Oct 3 07:42:10 CEST 2026.