How do I programmatically return the max of two integers without using any comparison operators and without using if, else, etc?

Question

How do I programmatically return the maximum of two integers without using any comparison operators and without using if, else, etc?

Answer 1

From z0mbie's (famous virii writer) article "Polymorphic Games", maybe you'll find it useful:

#define H0(x)       (((signed)(x)) >> (sizeof((signed)(x))*8-1))
#define H1(a,b)     H0((a)-(b))

#define MIN1(a,b)   ((a)+(H1(b,a) & ((b)-(a))))
#define MIN2(a,b)   ((a)-(H1(b,a) & ((a)-(b))))
#define MIN3(a,b)   ((b)-(H1(a,b) & ((b)-(a))))
#define MIN4(a,b)   ((b)+(H1(a,b) & ((a)-(b))))
//#define MIN5(a,b)   ((a)<(b)?(a):(b))
//#define MIN6(a,b)   ((a)>(b)?(b):(a))
//#define MIN7(a,b)   ((b)>(a)?(a):(b))
//#define MIN8(a,b)   ((b)<(a)?(b):(a))

#define MAX1(a,b)   ((a)+(H1(a,b) & ((b)-(a))))
#define MAX2(a,b)   ((a)-(H1(a,b) & ((a)-(b))))
#define MAX3(a,b)   ((b)-(H1(b,a) & ((b)-(a))))
#define MAX4(a,b)   ((b)+(H1(b,a) & ((a)-(b))))
//#define MAX5(a,b)   ((a)<(b)?(b):(a))
//#define MAX6(a,b)   ((a)>(b)?(a):(b))
//#define MAX7(a,b)   ((b)>(a)?(b):(a))
//#define MAX8(a,b)   ((b)<(a)?(a):(b))

#define ABS1(a)     (((a)^H0(a))-H0(a))
//#define ABS2(a)     ((a)>0?(a):-(a))
//#define ABS3(a)     ((a)>=0?(a):-(a))
//#define ABS4(a)     ((a)<0?-(a):(a))
//#define ABS5(a)     ((a)<=0?-(a):(a))

cheers