gamma(3) Library Functions Manual gamma(3)
NAME
gamma, gammaf, gammal - (logarithm of the) gamma function
LIBRARY
Math library (libm, -lm)
SYNOPSIS
#include <math.h>
[[deprecated]] double gamma(double x);
[[deprecated]] float gammaf(float x);
[[deprecated]] long double gammal(long double x);
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
gamma():
_XOPEN_SOURCE
|| /* Since glibc 2.19: */ _DEFAULT_SOURCE
|| /* glibc <= 2.19: */ _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE
gammaf(), gammal():
_XOPEN_SOURCE >= 600 || (_XOPEN_SOURCE && _ISOC99_SOURCE)
|| /* Since glibc 2.19: */ _DEFAULT_SOURCE
|| /* glibc <= 2.19: */ _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE
DESCRIPTION
These functions are deprecated: instead, use either the tgamma(3) or the
lgamma(3) functions, as appropriate.
For the definition of the Gamma function, see tgamma(3).
*BSD version
The libm in 4.4BSD and some versions of FreeBSD had a gamma() function
that computes the Gamma function, as one would expect.
glibc version
glibc has a gamma() function that is equivalent to lgamma(3) and com-
putes the natural logarithm of the Gamma function.
RETURN VALUE
See lgamma(3).
ERRORS
See lgamma(3).
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
┌─────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────────────┐
│ Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├─────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ gamma(), gammaf(), gammal() │ Thread safety │ MT-Unsafe race:signgam │
└─────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────────────┘
STANDARDS
None.
HISTORY
SVID 2.
Because of historical variations in behavior across systems, this func-
tion is not specified in any recent standard.
4.2BSD had a gamma() that computed ln(|Gamma(|x|)|), leaving the sign of
Gamma(|x|) in the external integer signgam. In 4.3BSD the name was
changed to lgamma(3), and the man page promises
"At some time in the future the name gamma will be rehabilitated and
used for the Gamma function"
This did indeed happen in 4.4BSD, where gamma() computes the Gamma func-
tion (with no effect on signgam). However, this came too late, and we
now have tgamma(3), the "true gamma" function.
SEE ALSO
lgamma(3), signgam(3), tgamma(3)
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