Max Function in Python (With Examples )

Max function in Python returns the largest item from an iterable or from two and more arguments .

Syntax of max function in Python

max(collection[,key])

Parameters of max function in Python

• collection = collection is the list of objects separated by comma or any iterable .
• key = Optional . It is a function that will be applied to every object of the collection or to every item in the iterable . Must be in keyword form .

Return type of max function in Python

It returns the the largest item from an iterable or from two and more arguments .

Examples of max function in Python

Example 1: Get the maximum number from a list of numbers

# Get the maximum number from a list of numbers
max_num=max(10,5,16,34,6)
print(max_num)

34

In the above code we have find the maximum number from the given numbers using max() function . Here as collection parameter we have used a list of objects separated by comma .

Example 2: Get the largest item from an iterable

# get the largest item from a list
max_item = max([10,5,16,34,6])
print("max item from the list is =",max_item)

# get the largest item from a tuple
max_item = max((10,5,16,34,6))
print("max item from the tuple is =",max_item)

# get the largest item from a set
max_item = max({10,5,16,34,6})
print("max item from the set is =",max_item)

# get the largest item from a dictionary
max_item = max({10:1,5:2,16:3,34:4,6:5})
print("max item from the dictionary is =",max_item)

# get the largest item from a string
max_item = max("32576")
print("max item from the string is =",max_item)

max item from the list is = 34
max item from the tuple is = 34
max item from the set is = 34
max item from the dictionary is = 34
max item from the string is = 7

In the above code we have got largest item from various iterable using max() function .

Example 3: Max function with key parameter

# getting the largest item from a list
# without using key parameter
max_item=max(["1","2","11","22","3"])
print("max item without key parameter =",max_item)

# getting the largest item from a list
# using key parameter
max_item=max(["1","2","11","22","3"],key=int)
print("max item with key parameter =",max_item)

max item without key parameter = 3
max item with key parameter = 22

• In the above code first we have got the largest element from the list using max() function without key parameter . As "3" is the largest item so it returned "3" .
• Then we have used max() function with key parameter to get the largest element from the list . We have used int() function as key parameter . We do not need to call the function we only need to mention the function name . As a result all the string of the list is converted to integer . Now 22 is the largest integer in the list . So the program returned 22 .

Example 4: Get the largest pair from a list whose multiplication is the highest

# getting the largest pair from a list
# whose multiplication is the highest
# defining the key function
def multiply(mytuple):
    multiplication=1
    for no in mytuple:
        multiplication*=no
    return multiplication    

max_pair=max([(5,4),(6,3),(7,2)],key=multiply)
print("max pair is =",max_pair)

max pair is = (5, 4)

• In the above code we have defined a function multiply which will take a tuple of numbers and muliply the numbers and return their multiplication .
• Then we have used this function as the key parameter of max() function . Now multiply() function has converted (5,4) to 20 , (6,3) to 18 and (7,2) to 14 . As 20 is the largest number so program returned (5,4) .

Example 5: Use lambda expression as key parameter of max() function

# getting the largest pair from a list
# whose multiplication is the highest

max_pair=max([(5,4),(6,3),(7,2)],key=lambda x:x[0]*x[1])
print("max pair is =",max_pair)

max pair is = (5, 4)

In the above code we have solved the previous problem using lambda expression as key parameter .

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