The max()
function returns the largest item in an iterable. It can also be used to find the largest item between two or more parameters.
Example
numbers = [9, 34, 11, -4, 27]
# find the maximum number
max_number = max(numbers)
print(max_number)
# Output: 34
The max()
function has two forms:
# to find the largest item in an iterable
max(iterable, *iterables, key, default)
# to find the largest item between two or more objects
max(arg1, arg2, *args, key)
1. max() with iterable arguments
max() Syntax
To find the largest item in an iterable, we use this syntax:
max(iterable, *iterables, key, default)
max() Parameters
- iterable - an iterable such as list, tuple, set, dictionary, etc.
- *iterables (optional) - any number of iterables; can be more than one
- key (optional) - key function where the iterables are passed and comparison is performed based on its return value
- default (optional) - default value if the given iterable is empty
max() Return Value
max()
returns the largest element from an iterable.
Example 1: Get the largest item in a list
number = [3, 2, 8, 5, 10, 6]
largest_number = max(number);
print("The largest number is:", largest_number)
Output
The largest number is: 10
If the items in an iterable are strings, the largest item (ordered alphabetically) is returned.
Example 2: the largest string in a list
languages = ["Python", "C Programming", "Java", "JavaScript"]
largest_string = max(languages);
print("The largest string is:", largest_string)
Output
The largest string is: Python
In the case of dictionaries, max()
returns the largest key. Let's use the key
parameter so that we can find the dictionary's key having the largest value.
Example 3: max() in dictionaries
square = {2: 4, -3: 9, -1: 1, -2: 4}
# the largest key
key1 = max(square)
print("The largest key:", key1) # 2
# the key whose value is the largest
key2 = max(square, key = lambda k: square[k])
print("The key with the largest value:", key2) # -3
# getting the largest value
print("The largest value:", square[key2]) # 9
Output
The largest key: 2 The key with the largest value: -3 The largest value: 9
In the second max()
function, we have passed a lambda function to the key
parameter.
key = lambda k: square[k]
The function returns the values of dictionaries. Based on the values (rather than the dictionary's keys), the key having the maximum value is returned.
Notes:
- If we pass an empty iterator, a
ValueError
exception is raised. To avoid this, we can pass the default parameter. - If we pass more than one iterators, the largest item from the given iterators is returned.
2. max() without iterable
max() Syntax
To find the largest object between two or more parameters, we can use this syntax:
max(arg1, arg2, *args, key)
max() parameters
- arg1 - an object; can be numbers, strings, etc.
- arg2 - an object; can be numbers, strings, etc.
- *args (optional) - any number of objects
- key (optional) - key function where each argument is passed, and comparison is performed based on its return value
Basically, the max()
function finds the largest item between two or more objects.
max() Return Value
max()
returns the largest argument among the multiple arguments passed to it.
Example 4: Find the maximum among the given numbers
# find max among the arguments
result = max(4, -5, 23, 5)
print("The maximum number is:", result)
Output
The maximum number is: 23
If you need to find the smallest item, you can use the Python min() function.