How do Javascript Math.max and Math.min actually work?

Question

I am really curious how these functions actually work? I know there are a lot of questions about how to use these, I already know how to use them, but I couldn't find anywhere how to actually go about implementing this functionality on an array, for example, if there were no such functions? How would you code such a function if there were no helpers?

Answer 1

Here is the Math.max code in Chrome V8 engine.

function MathMax(arg1, arg2) {  // length == 2
  var length = %_ArgumentsLength();
  if (length == 2) {
    arg1 = TO_NUMBER(arg1);
    arg2 = TO_NUMBER(arg2);
    if (arg2 > arg1) return arg2;
    if (arg1 > arg2) return arg1;
    if (arg1 == arg2) {
      // Make sure -0 is considered less than +0.
      return (arg1 === 0 && %_IsMinusZero(arg1)) ? arg2 : arg1;
    }
    // All comparisons failed, one of the arguments must be NaN.
    return NaN;
  }
  var r = -INFINITY;
  for (var i = 0; i < length; i++) {
    var n = %_Arguments(i);
    n = TO_NUMBER(n);
    // Make sure +0 is considered greater than -0.
    if (NUMBER_IS_NAN(n) || n > r || (r === 0 && n === 0 && %_IsMinusZero(r))) {
      r = n;
    }
  }
  return r;
}

Here is the repository.

Answer 2

Below is how to implement the functions if Math.min() and Math.max() did not exist.

Functions have an arguments object, which you can iterate through to get its values.

It's important to note that Math.min() with no arguments returns Infinity, and Math.max() with no arguments returns -Infinity.

function min() {
  var result= Infinity;
  for(var i in arguments) {
    if(arguments[i] < result) {
      result = arguments[i];
    }
  }
  return result;
}

function max() {
  var result= -Infinity;
  for(var i in arguments) {
    if(arguments[i] > result) {
      result = arguments[i];
    }
  }
  return result;
}

//Tests
console.log(min(5,3,-2,4,14));       //-2
console.log(Math.min(5,3,-2,4,14));  //-2

console.log(max(5,3,-2,4,14));       //14
console.log(Math.max(5,3,-2,4,14));  //14

console.log(min());                  //Infinity
console.log(Math.min());             //Infinity

console.log(max());                  //-Infinity
console.log(Math.max());             //-Infinity