BigInteger signum() Method in Java (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 11 Jul, 2025

prerequisite : BigInteger Basics
The java.math.BigInteger.signum() method helps us to identify whether a BigInteger is positive or zero or negative. It returns one of the following values depending on the following conditions:

• returns -1 when number is negative
• returns 0 when number is zero
• returns +1 when number is positive

Syntax:

public int signum()

Parameters: The method does not take any parameters.
Return Value: The method returns -1, 0 or 1 as the value of this BigInteger when they are negative, zero or positive respectively.

Examples:

Input: 2300 Output: 1 Explanation: 2300 is positive number so the method returns 1

Input: -5482549 Output: -1

Below program illustrate the signum() method of BigInteger.

Java `

// Program Demonstrate signum() method of BigInteger

import java.math.*;

public class GFG {

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    // Creating BigInteger object
    BigInteger biginteger = new BigInteger("2300");

    // Call signum() method on bigInteger
    // store the return value as int
    int sigvalue = biginteger.signum();

    // Depending upon sign value find sign of biginteger
    String sign = null;
    if (sigvalue == 0)
        sign = "zero";
    else if (sigvalue == 1)
        sign = "positive";
    else
        sign = "negative";

    // Defining result
    String result = "BigInteger " + biginteger + " is " + 
    sign + " and Sing value is " + sigvalue;

    // Print result
    System.out.println(result);
}

}

`

Output:

BigInteger 2300 is positive and Sing value is 1

Reference:https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/math/BigInteger.html#signum()