The simplest way to get around the fact that max() won't give the key is array_search:
<?php
$student_grades = array ("john" => 100, "sarah" => 90, "anne" => 100);
$top_student = array_search(max($student_grades),$student_grades); // john
?>
This could also be done with array_flip, though overwriting will mean that it gets the last max value rather than the first:
<?php
$grades_index = array_flip($student_grades);
$top_student = $grades_index[max($student_grades)]; // anne
?>
To get all the max value keys:
<?php
$top_students = array_keys($student_grades,max($student_grades)); // john, anne
?>
max
(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)
max — Encontrar el valor más alto
Descripción
Si el primer y único parámetro es un array, max() devuelve el valor más alto de ese array. Si se proporcionan al menos dos parámetros, max() devuelve el mayor de estos valores.
Nota:
Los valores de diferentes tipos serán comparados utilizando las reglas de comparación estándar. Por ejemplo, un string no numérico será comparado con un integer como si fuera 0, aunque varios valores no numéricos de tipo string serán comparados alfanuméricamente. El valor real devuelto será del tipo original sin ninguna conversión aplicada.
Precaución
Tenga cuidado al pasar argumentos con valores de tipos mezclados debido a que max() puede producir resultados impredecibles.
Parámetros
-
values -
Un array que contiene los valores.
-
value1 -
Cualquier valor comparable.
-
value2 -
Cualquier valor comparable.
-
... -
Cualquier valor comparable.
Valores devueltos
max() devuelve el valor del parámetro considerado "el mayor" según las reglas de comparación estándar. Si varios valores de diferentes tipos se evalúan como iguales (p.ej. 0 y 'abc'), será devuelto el primero proporcionado a la función.
Si se pasa un array vacío, se devolverá FALSE y se
emitirá un error E_WARNING.
Ejemplos
Ejemplo #1 Ejemplos de uso de max()
<?php
echo max(2, 3, 1, 6, 7); // 7
echo max(array(2, 4, 5)); // 5
// La cadena 'hola' es tratada como 0 cuando se compara con un número entero
// Ya que los dos valores son iguales, el orden en el que se proporcionan determina el resultado
echo max(0, 'hola'); // 0
echo max('hola', 0); // hola
// Aquí se compara -1 < 0, por lo que 'hola' es el valor mayor
echo max(-1, 'hola'); // hola
// Con varios arrays de diferentes longitudes, max devuelve el más largo
$val = max(array(2, 2, 2), array(1, 1, 1, 1)); // array(1, 1, 1, 1)
// Varios arrays de la misma longitud son comparados de izquierda a derecha,
// así que en nuestro ejemplo: 2 == 2, pero 5 > 4
$val = max(array(2, 4, 8), array(2, 5, 1)); // array(2, 5, 1)
// Si se pasan un array y algo que no sea un array, será devuelto el array,
// ya que las comparaciones tratan a los arrays como mayores que cualquier otro valor
$val = max('cadena', array(2, 5, 7), 42); // array(2, 5, 7)
// Si un argumento es NULL o un booleano, será comparado con
// otros valores usando la regla FALSE < TRUE independientemente de los otros tipos involucrados
// En los ejemplos de abajo, -10 y 10 son tratados como TRUE en la comparación
$val = max(-10, FALSE); // -10
// 0, por el contrario, es tratado como FALSE, por lo que es "menor que" TRUE
$val = max(0, TRUE); // TRUE
?>
add a note
User Contributed Notes 16 notes
keith at bifugi dot com ¶
2 years ago
ries at vantwisk dot nl ¶
10 years ago
I had several occasions that using max is a lot slower then using a if/then/else construct. Be sure to check this in your routines!
Ries
volch5 at gmail dot com ¶
5 years ago
max() (and min()) on DateTime objects compares them like dates (with timezone info) and returns DateTime object.
<?php
$dt1 = new DateTime('2014-05-07 18:53', new DateTimeZone('Europe/Kiev'));
$dt2 = new DateTime('2014-05-07 16:53', new DateTimeZone('UTC'));
echo max($dt1,$dt2)->format(DateTime::RFC3339) . PHP_EOL; // 2014-05-07T16:53:00+00:00
echo min($dt1,$dt2)->format(DateTime::RFC3339) . PHP_EOL; // 2014-05-07T18:53:00+03:00
?>
It works at least 5.3.3-7+squeeze17
Alex Rath ¶
9 years ago
Notice that whenever there is a Number in front of the String, it will be used for Comparison.
<?php
max('7iuwmssuxue', 1); //returns 7iuwmssuxu
max('-7suidha', -4); //returns -4
?>
But just if it is in front of the String
<?php
max('sdihatewin7wduiw', 3); //returns 3
?>
johnphayes at gmail dot com ¶
13 years ago
Regarding boolean parameters in min() and max():
(a) If any of your parameters is boolean, max and min will cast the rest of them to boolean to do the comparison.
(b) true > false
(c) However, max and min will return the actual parameter value that wins the comparison (not the cast).
Here's some test cases to illustrate:
1. max(true,100)=true
2. max(true,0)=true
3. max(100,true)=100
4. max(false,100)=100
5. max(100,false)=100
6. min(true,100)=true
7. min(true,0)=0
8. min(100,true)=100
9. min(false,100)=false
10. min(100,false)=false
11. min(true,false)=false
12. max(true,false)=true
ReVo_ ¶
4 years ago
Sometimes you could need to get the max from an array which looks like this:
<?php
$arrTest = array(
array( "day" => 1, "b" => 10 ),
array( "day" => 2, "b" => 43 ),
array( "day" => 3, "b" => 2 ),
array( "day" => 4, "b" => -3 ),
array( "day" => 5, "b" => 4 ),
array( "day" => 6, "b" => -5 )
);
?>
all max functions i see around don't provide a way to get the max value of the values in (example) key "b"
<?php
function maxValueInArray($array, $keyToSearch)
{
$currentMax = NULL;
foreach($array as $arr)
{
foreach($arr as $key => $value)
{
if ($key == $keyToSearch && ($value >= $currentMax))
{
$currentMax = $value;
}
}
}
return $currentMax;
}
// array key
$value = maxValueInArray($arrTest, "b");
?>
output: 43
michaelangel0 at mail.com ¶
11 years ago
Matlab users and others may feel lonely without the double argument output from min and max functions.
To have the INDEX of the highest value in an array, as well as the value itself, use the following, or a derivative:
<?php
function doublemax($mylist){
$maxvalue=max($mylist);
while(list($key,$value)=each($mylist)){
if($value==$maxvalue)$maxindex=$key;
}
return array("m"=>$maxvalue,"i"=>$maxindex);
}
?>
php at rijkvanwel dot nl ¶
8 years ago
To get the largest key in an array:
<?php
$array = array( 0 => 'first', 1=> 'second', /* ... */ 99 => 'nth' );
$max_key = max( array_keys( $array ) ); // 99
?>
toon dot baeyens at gmail dot com ¶
7 years ago
A little function for multi-dimensional arrays:
<?php
function amax($array){
if(is_array($array)){
foreach($array as $key => $value){
$array[$key] = amax($value);
}
return max($array);
}else{
return $array;
}
}
?>
harmor ¶
11 years ago
A way to bound a integer between two values is:
<?php
function bound($x, $min, $max)
{
return min(max($x, $min), $max);
}
?>
which is the same as:
<?php
$tmp = $x;
if($tmp < $min)
{
$tmp = $min;
}
if($tmp > $max)
{
$tmp = $max;
}
$y = $tmp;
?>
So if you wanted to bound an integer between 1 and 12 for example:
Input:
<?php
$x = 0;
echo bound(0, 1, 12).'<br />';
$x = 1;
echo bound($x, 1, 12).'<br />';
$x = 6;
echo bound($x, 1, 12).'<br />';
$x = 12;
echo bound($x, 1, 12).'<br />';
$x = 13;
echo bound($x, 1, 12).'<br />';
?>
Output:
1
1
6
12
12
Michael Blinn ¶
2 months ago
Be careful using max() with objects, as it returns a reference not a new object.
<?php
$min_date = date_create('2019-03-05');
$max_date = date_create('2019-03-06');
$date_by_reference = max($min_date, $max_date);
// $date_by_reference and $max_date are now the same object
echo '$max_date is ' . date_format($max_date, 'Y-m-d') . PHP_EOL; // '2019-03-06'
echo '$date_by_reference is ' . date_format($date_by_reference, 'Y-m-d') . PHP_EOL; // '2019-03-06'
date_add($date_by_reference, date_interval_create_from_date_string('1 days')); // Add 1 day to $date_by_reference, changes $max_date too
echo '$max_date is changed ' . date_format($max_date, 'Y-m-d') . PHP_EOL; // '2019-03-07'
echo '$date_by_reference is changed ' . date_format($date_by_reference, 'Y-m-d') . PHP_EOL; // '2019-03-07'
?>
info at osworx dot net ¶
4 months ago
Be aware if a array like this is used (e.g. values from a shopping cart):
<?php
Array
(
[0] => 142,80
[1] => 39,27
[2] => 22,80
[3] => 175,80
)?>
The result will be: 39,27 and not - as expected - 175,80
So, to find the max value, use integer only like:
<?php
Array
(
[0] => 14280
[1] => 3927
[2] => 2280
[3] => 17580
)?>
and you will get the correct result: 17580
sun at drupal dot org ¶
7 years ago
Note that max() throws a warning if the array is empty:
<?php
$a = array();
max($a);
// Warning: max(): Array must contain at least one element
?>
So make sure your data isn't empty.
marcini ¶
10 years ago
Note that max() can compare dates, so if you write something like this:
<?php
$dates = array('2009-02-15', '2009-03-15');
echo max($dates);
?>
you will get: 2009-03-15.
levim at php dot net ¶
6 years ago
<?php
/**
* @param array $array
*
* @return int|null Returns the largest value of the array. Returns NULL if no
* integers are found.
*/
function array_max_recursive(array $array) {
$max = NULL;
$stack = array($array);
do {
$current = array_pop($stack );
foreach ($current as $value) {
if (is_array($value)) {
$stack[] = $value;
} elseif (filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT) !== FALSE) {
// max(NULL, 0) returns NULL, so cast it
$max = (int) max($max, $value);
}
}
} while (!empty($stack));
return $max;
}
?>
- This function is not actually recursive, but fulfills the requirement that it works on sub-arrays. I do this because PHP is not very good at recursion. I also did it because I enjoy doing things this way.
- It returns something of type int, never a string representation of an int. The exception is when you provide an array that does not contain any integers. It will then return NULL.
- It ignores non-array, non-int values.
