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 computes 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
 | Thread safety | MT-Unsafe race:signgam

STANDARDS
None.

HISTORY
SVID 2.

Because of historical variations in behavior across systems, this function 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 function (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)