Find the highest number with JavaScript's Math.max

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:

  1. Compare between 7 and 6, returns 7
  2. Compare between 7 and 5, returns 7

And so the max value is 7

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