Get min or max from set of values

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1

Are there any conventional ways, like with predefined functions, for getting the minimum or maximum value of a list; or, do I have to define that myself with something like this?

define :lesser do |a, b|
  if a <= b then
    return a
  else
    return b
  end
end

define :min do |list|
  low = list[0]
  list.each do |n|
    if n < low then
      low = n
    end
  end
  return low
end
2

Ruby has built in functions for this.

puts [3,5].min # => 3
puts [-4,-6].max # => -4
#also this
puts [1,-3,65,23].minmax # => [-3,65]
#you can have long lists in the first two rather than just comparing two values

if you want you could define your own functions for this eg

define :minValue do |a,b|
  return [a,b].min
end

define :maxValue do |a,b|
  return [a,b].max
end

puts minValue(4,4.1)     # => 4
puts maxValue(4,4.1)     # => 4.1
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3

If this was SO, I wouldn’t leave a reply just to say “Thanks!”, but this seems like the polite thing to do. I really appreciate it!

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