cexp(3)

✨ cexp(3) — it's giving complex exponential, bestie ✨

okay so real talk, this page lives in section 3 of the manual (that's the library-functions girlies, cexp(3), we been knew 💅), and it's genuinely one of the cutest little math pages out there. sit down, sip ur drink, let's go 🍓

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🌸 NAME 🌸

cexp, cexpfr wait no — cexp, cexpf, cexpl — the complex exponential function 💖 that's the whole vibe.

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📚 LIBRARY 📚

Math library, aka libm, and you link it with -lm like a normal person. no cap. 🧚

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <complex.h>

double complex cexp(double complex z);
float complex cexpf(float complex z);
long double complex cexpl(long double complex z);

three flavours, one queen behaviour: double, float, and long double precision, each one taking its matching complex type. slay. 👑

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💫 DESCRIPTION 💫

So here's the tea: these functions calculate e — that's 2.71828..., the base of natural logarithms, the iconic irrational number herself — raised to the power of z. ✨

Like, mathematically speaking:

cexp(I * z) = ccos(z) + I * csin(z)

and honestly? that identity is main character energy. it's the whole reason complex exponentials show up everywhere in signals and physics and all that. you're welcome. 🦋

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🔥 ATTRIBUTES 🔥

if you're confused about what any of these fancy words mean, go read attributes(7), she explains everything. for real.

• cexp(), cexpf(), cexpl() — Thread safety: MT-Safe ✅ but like, of course they are. iconic, no notes.

ngl the original had a whole table here but the info is just: all three of these bad boys are MT-Safe, periodt. 🫶

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⭐ STANDARDS ⭐

• C11
• POSIX.1-2008

that's the standard-compliance vibe check and they both passed. no cap. 💜

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🧚 HISTORY 🧚

• glibc 2.1 — when she first showed up in glibc 🎀
• C99, POSIX.1-2001 — where she was standardised first

a true legend. she's been in the game for a minute. 👑

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the whole friend group, go say hi:

• cabs(3)
• cexp2(3)
• clog(3)
• cpow(3)
• complex(7)

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and that's the page bestie!! 😭💖 this love letter comes to you courtesy of Linux man-pages 6.20, dated 2026-02-08 — so if you cite it, cite it cute. go forth and compute ur complex exponentials. obsessed with you. bye!! 🦋✨🎀