How do I keep multiple DIVs the same height using jQuery?

Question

I've got a few DIV tags with different amounts of text content.

HTML:

<div id="boxes">
    <div id="boxone">
        <p>...</p>
    </div>
    <div id="boxtwo">
        <p>...</p>
    </div>
    <div id="boxthree">
        <p>...</p>
    </div>
    <div id="boxfour">
        <p>...</p>
    </div>
</div>

They're in a two-by-two layout and their width is fluid:

CSS:

div#boxes {
    width: 100%;
}

div#boxes div {
    width: 49.9%;
    float: left;
}

I want them all the same height.

So, I loop through them and find the height of the tallest one. Then I loop again and set them all to that height.

jQuery:

$(function() {
    var maxHeight = 0;
    $('div#boxes div').each(function(){
        if (maxHeight < $(this).height()) {maxHeight = $(this).height()}
    });
    $('div#boxes div').each(function(){
        $(this).height(maxHeight);
    });
});

This works well if the height of the div doesn't need to change again.

But, it fails if I resize the browser window:

1. If I (a) make the browser wider, then (b) my DIVs get wider, then (c) their text content wraps fewer times, and then (d) my DIVs are too tall.

2. If I (b) make the browser more narrow, then (b) my DIVs get narrower, then (c) their text content wraps more, and then (d) my DIVs are too short.

How do I both (1) automatically size DIVs to the height of their content like normal, but also (2) keep those multiple DIVs the same height?

Answer 1

For the others who, like me, came here by searching Google for a solution: The fist part of the accepted answer only works when the first div is the highest. I have made some changes to it and now it seems to work in all cases.

var highest = 0;
function sortNumber(a,b)    {
    return a - b;
}

function maxHeight() {
    var heights = new Array();
    $('#wrapper2>div').each(function(){
        $(this).css('height', 'auto');
        heights.push($(this).height());
        heights = heights.sort(sortNumber).reverse();
    });        
        highest = heights[0]; 
    $('#wrapper2>div').each(function(){
        $(this).css('height', highest);
    });

}

$(document).ready(function() {
    maxHeight();
})

$(window).resize(maxHeight);