How might I find the largest number contained in a JavaScript array?

Question

I have a simple JavaScript Array object containing a few numbers.

[267, 306, 108]

Is there a function that would find the largest number in this array?

Answer 1

Resig to the rescue:

Array.max = function( array ){
    return Math.max.apply( Math, array );
};

Answer 2

You can use the apply function, to call Math.max:

var array = [267, 306, 108];
var largest = Math.max.apply(Math, array); // 306

How it works?

The apply function is used to call another function, with a given context and arguments, provided as an array. The min and max functions can take an arbitrary number of input arguments: Math.max(val1, val2, ..., valN)

So if we call:

Math.min.apply(Math, [1,2,3,4]);

The apply function will execute:

Math.min(1,2,3,4);

Note that the first parameter, the context, is not important for these functions since they are static, they will work regardless of what is passed as the context.

Answer 3

You could sort the array in descending order and get the first item:

[267, 306, 108].sort(function(a,b){return b-a;})[0]