Maximum float value in php

Question

Is there a way to programmatically retrieve the maximum float value for php. Akin to FLT_MAX or std::numeric_limits< float >::max() in C / C++?

I am using something like the following:

$minimumCost = MAXIMUM_FLOAT_VALUE??;

foreach ( $objects as $object )
{
    $cost = $object->CalculateCost();
    if ( $cost < $minimumCost )
    {
        $minimumCost = $cost;
    }
}

(using php 5.2)

Answer 1

The float maximum is platform-dependant, and even though it could be useful to get it, there seems to be no (simple) way to do it. You can however use the INF (infinite) constant, which will be bigger than any other value you can ever put in a numeric type, if the goal is only to have a huge placeholder value.