The Math.max[]
function returns the largest of the numbers given as input parameters, or -Infinity
if there are no parameters.Try it
Syntax
Math.max[]
Math.max[value0]
Math.max[value0, value1]
Math.max[value0, value1, /* … ,*/ valueN]
Parameters
value1
, value2
, … , valueN
Zero or more numbers among which the largest value will be selected and returned.
Return value
The largest of the given numbers. Returns NaN
if any of the parameters is or is converted into NaN
. Returns
-Infinity
if no parameters are provided.
Description
Because max[]
is a static method of Math
, you always use it as
Math.max[]
, rather than as a method of a Math
object you created [Math
is not a constructor].
Math.max.length
is 2, which weakly signals that it's designed to handle at least two parameters.
Examples
Using Math.max[]
Math.max[10, 20]; // 20
Math.max[-10, -20]; // -10
Math.max[-10, 20]; // 20
Getting the maximum element of an array
Array.prototype.reduce[]
can be used to find the maximum element in a numeric array, by comparing each value:
const arr = [1, 2, 3];
const max = arr.reduce[[a, b] => Math.max[a, b], -Infinity];
The following function uses Function.prototype.apply[]
to get the maximum of an array. getMaxOfArray[[1, 2, 3]]
is equivalent to Math.max[1, 2, 3]
, but you can use getMaxOfArray[]
on programmatically constructed arrays. This should only be used for arrays with relatively few elements.
function getMaxOfArray[numArray] {
return Math.max.apply[null, numArray];
}
The spread syntax is a shorter way of writing the apply
solution to get the maximum of an array:
const arr = [1, 2, 3];
const max = Math.max[...arr];
However, both spread [...
] and apply
will either fail or return the wrong result if the array has too many elements,
because they try to pass the array elements as function parameters. See Using apply and built-in functions for more details. The reduce
solution does not have this problem.
Specifications
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-math.max |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
More Examples
let a = Math.max[5, 10];
let b = Math.max[0, 150, 30, 20, 38];
let c = Math.max[-5, 10];
let d = Math.max[-5, -10];
let e = Math.max[1.5, 2.5];
Try it Yourself »
Definition and Usage
The Math.max[]
method returns the number with the highest value.
Syntax
Parameters
Parameter | Description |
n1, n2,... | Optional. One or more numbers to compare. |
Return Value
Type | Description |
Number | The highest number of the arguments.-Infinity if no arguments are given.NaN if one of the arguments is not a number.
|
Browser Support
Math.max[]
is an ECMAScript1 [ES1] feature.
ES1 [JavaScript 1997] is fully supported in all browsers:
Chrome | IE | Edge | Firefox | Safari | Opera |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |