Java hypot() Method

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Java Math.hypot() Method

In Java, the hypot() method is part of the java.lang.Math class. It is used to calculate the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, given the lengths of the other two sides.

✅ Method Signature

public static double hypot(double x, double y)

The Math.hypot(x, y) method returns sqrt(x² + y²) without intermediate overflow or underflow, which makes it more accurate than manually computing the square root of x*x + y*y.

🔁 Parameters

x – one side of the triangle.
y – the other side of the triangle.

🎯 Returns

The length of the hypotenuse as a double.

🧮 Example

public class HypotExample {
 public static void main(String[] args) {
 double a = 3.0;
 double b = 4.0;

 double hypotenuse = Math.hypot(a, b);

 System.out.println("Hypotenuse is: " + hypotenuse); // Output: 5.0
 }
}

🎯 Use Case

Useful in:

Geometry calculations
Game development (e.g., distance between two points)
Scientific applications

⚠️ Note

Using Math.hypot() is better than Math.sqrt(x*x + y*y) because:
It avoids overflow and underflow.
It’s more accurate for large or very small values of x and y.