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, PHP 8)
max — 最大値を返す
説明
代替のシグネチャ (名前付き引数をサポートしていません):
パラメータとして配列をひとつだけ渡した場合は、max() は配列の中で最も大きい数値を返します。 ふたつ以上のパラメータを指定した場合は、max() はそれらの中で最も大きいものを返します。
注意:
異なる型の値を比較する際には、 標準の比較ルールに従います。 たとえば、数値形式でない string を int と比較するときには、数値
0と評価します。 しかし、数値形式でない string どうしを比較するときには、アルファベット順で評価します。 返される値は、何も変換をしていない、元の型の値となります。
警告
異なる型の値を引数として渡す際には注意しましょう。 max() が予期せぬ結果を返す可能性があるからです。
返り値
max() は、パラメータとして渡した値の中で、標準の比較ルールに従って最大になるものを返します。
異なる型で同じ値と評価される複数の値 (0 と 'abc' など)
があった場合は、関数に最初に渡されたほうを返します。
空の配列を渡した場合は false を返し、
E_WARNING が発生します。
例
例1 max() の使用例
<?php
echo max(2, 3, 1, 6, 7); // 7
echo max(array(2, 4, 5)); // 5
// 'hello' を int と比較するときは、0 と評価します。ふたつの値が
// 等しくなるので、パラメータを渡した順によって結果が決まります
echo max(0, 'hello'); // 0
echo max('hello', 0); // hello
// -1 と 0 の比較なので、'hello' のほうが大きくなります
echo max('hello', -1); // hello
// 長さが異なる複数の配列を渡すと、いちばん長い配列を返します
$val = max(array(2, 2, 2), array(1, 1, 1, 1)); // array(1, 1, 1, 1)
// 同じ長さの複数の配列を渡すと、max はその要素を左から
// 辞書順に比較します。この例では 2 == 2 ですが 5 > 4 となります
$val = max(array(2, 4, 8), array(2, 5, 1)); // array(2, 5, 1)
// 配列と配列でない値が渡された場合、常に
// 配列が最大と判定されます。
$val = max('string', array(2, 5, 7), 42); // array(2, 5, 7)
// 一方の値が NULL や boolean の場合、それを他の値と比較するときには、
// もう一方の値の型が何であるかにかかわらず、FALSE < TRUE というルールを使います。
// 以下の例では、-10 は TRUE と評価されます。
$val = max(-10, FALSE); // -10
// 一方 0 は FALSE と評価されるので、TRUE よりは小さいとみなされます。
$val = max(0, TRUE); // TRUE
?>
add a note
User Contributed Notes 17 notes
keith at bifugi dot com ¶
7 years ago
ries at vantwisk dot nl ¶
15 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 ¶
10 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 ¶
14 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
?>
ReVo_ ¶
9 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
johnphayes at gmail dot com ¶
18 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
sun at drupal dot org ¶
12 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.
harmor ¶
16 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
michaelangel0 at mail.com ¶
16 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 ¶
13 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
?>
blackmac01 at gmail dot com ¶
4 years ago
In response to: keith at bifugi dot com
If you want to find the specific key(s) that match the maximum value in an array where the values may be duplicated, you can loop through and perform a simple check:
<?php
# Example Array
$a = array(
'key1' => 100,
'key2' => 90,
'key3' => 100,
'key4' => 90,
);
# First get the maximum value
$max = max($a);
# Create a new array containing all keys which have the max value
foreach($a as $key => $val) {
if($val === $max) $b[] = $key;
}
# If you want a string list, just do this
$b = implode(' ', $b);
?>
This produces consistent results and will scale well in terms of performance, whereas functions like array_search and array_flip can lead to degraded performance when dealing with large amounts of data.
info at osworx dot net ¶
5 years 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
marcini ¶
15 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 ¶
11 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 $max;
}
?>
- This function is not actually recursive, but fulfills the requirement that it works on sub-arrays. I do this because PHP is not very good at recursion. I also did it because I enjoy doing things this way.
- It returns something of type int, never a string representation of an int. The exception is when you provide an array that does not contain any integers. It will then return NULL.
- It ignores non-array, non-int values.
toon dot baeyens at gmail dot com ¶
12 years ago
A little function for multi-dimensional arrays:
<?php
function amax($array){
if(is_array($array)){
foreach($array as $key => $value){
$array[$key] = amax($value);
}
return max($array);
}else{
return $array;
}
}
?>
Michael Blinn ¶
5 years 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'
?>
