The Math.max()
function returns the largest of zero or more numbers.
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Syntax
Math.max([value1[, value2[, ...]]])
Parameters
value1, value2, ...
- Numbers.
Return value
The largest of the given numbers. If at least one of the arguments cannot be converted to a number, NaN
is returned.
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).
If no arguments are given, the result is -Infinity
.
If at least one of arguments cannot be converted to a number, the result is NaN
.
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.reduce()
can be used to find the maximum element in a numeric array, by comparing each value:
var arr = [1,2,3]; var max = arr.reduce(function(a, b) { return Math.max(a, b); });
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 new spread operator is a shorter way of writing the apply
solution to get the maximum of an array:
var arr = [1, 2, 3]; var 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
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
ECMAScript 1st Edition (ECMA-262) | Standard | Initial definition. Implemented in JavaScript 1.0. |
ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262) The definition of 'Math.max' in that specification. |
Standard | |
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262) The definition of 'Math.max' in that specification. |
Standard | |
ECMAScript Latest Draft (ECMA-262) The definition of 'Math.max' in that specification. |
Draft |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Desktop | Mobile | Server | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support Yes | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support Yes | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Edge Mobile Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes | nodejs Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support