The Math.min() function returns the smallest of the numbers given as input parameters, or Infinity if there are no parameters. Math.min()
Math.min(value0)
Math.min(value0, value1)
Math.min(value0, value1, /* … ,*/ valueN)
value1, …, valueN Zero or more numbers among which the lowest value will be selected and returned. The smallest of the given numbers. Returns NaN if any of the parameters is or is converted into NaN. Returns
Infinity if no parameters are provided. Because min() is a static method of Math, you always use it as
Math.min(), rather than as a method of a Math object you created (Math is not a constructor). Math.min.length is 2, which weakly signals that it's designed to handle at least two parameters. This finds the min of x and y and
assigns it to z:Try it
Syntax
Parameters
Return value
Description
Examples
Using Math.min()
const x = 10; const y = -20; const z = Math.min(x, y); // -20
Clipping a value with Math.min()
Math.min() is often used to clip a value so that it is always less than or equal to a boundary. For instance, this
let x = f(foo); if (x > boundary) { x = boundary; }
may be written as this
const x = Math.min(f(foo), boundary);
Math.max() can be used in a similar way to clip a value at the other end.
Specifications
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-math.min |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
The Math.max() function returns the largest of the numbers given as input parameters, or -Infinity if there are no parameters. Math.max()
Math.max(value0)
Math.max(value0, value1)
Math.max(value0, value1, /* … ,*/ valueN)
value1, value2, … , valueN Zero or more numbers among which the largest value will be selected and returned. The largest of the given numbers. Returns NaN if any of the parameters is or is converted into NaN. Returns
-Infinity if no parameters are provided. 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). Math.max.length is 2, which weakly signals that it's designed to handle at least two parameters.Try it
Syntax
Parameters
Return value
Description
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.prototype.reduce() can be used to find the maximum element in a numeric array, by comparing each value:
const arr = [1, 2, 3]; const max = arr.reduce((a, b) => Math.max(a, b), -Infinity);
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 spread syntax is a shorter way of writing the apply solution to get the maximum of an array:
const arr = [1, 2, 3]; const 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
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-math.max |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser