
When you need to find the highest value of several numbers, you can use JavaScript’s Math.max method. The method accepts as many number arguments as you need to pass into it:
Math.max(20, 3, 10, 29);
// returns 29
Passing zero arguments will cause the method to return -Infinity as value:
Math.max();
// returns -Infinity
Passing any other data type as arguments will cause the method to return NaN:
Math.max("Hello", 1, 2);
// returns NaN
You can also mix the arguments for the method with negative numbers:
Math.max(7, -9, -25);
// returns 7
Finding the maximum value in an array
When you need to find the maximum value in an array of numbers, you can use the spread operator (...) to pull out the numbers and pass them as arguments into the Math.max method:
let scores = [7, 4, 6, 8];
let maxNumber = Math.max(...scores);
// maxNumber value is 8
Or you can also use the reduce method to compare two elements at a time:
let scores = [7, 6, 5];
let max = scores.reduce(function(a, b) {
return Math.max(a, b);
});
The reduce method above will perform two times:
- Compare between
7and6, returns7 - Compare between
7and5, returns7
And so the max value is 7