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Python Python Sequences Sequence Operations Len, Min, and Max

Dat Ngo
Dat Ngo
2,586 Points
Posted by Dat Ngo
Dat Ngo
2,586 Points

about the min and max function

Is that these functions depend on the ascii code of the elements?

3 Answers

Josh Keenan
Josh Keenan
19,652 Points
Josh Keenan
Josh Keenan
19,652 Points

No, it takes an iterable object and compares the items to each other to find the biggest (max()) or the smallest (min()) item in the iterable.

These two functions break it down to its simplest form of understanding.

def minimum(iterable):      # iterable is any iterable object, like a list
    smallest = iterable[0]  # set to first value of list
    for i in iterable:      # loop to go over the contents of the list
        if i < smallest:    # check if the current value is smaller than the smallest
            smallest = i    # if it is, it becomes the new smallest
    return smallest         # return the smallest item in the array


def maximum(iterable):
    biggest = iterable[0]   
    for i in iterable:      
        if i > biggest:     # this time we need to see if it is bigger
            biggest = i
    return biggest
Vignesh Dhakshinamoorthy
Vignesh Dhakshinamoorthy
1,788 Points
Vignesh Dhakshinamoorthy
Vignesh Dhakshinamoorthy
1,788 Points

I came here to post the same question because it does sound like ASCII values are in action here.

Here are some examples:

min("treehouse") #returns e which has a ASCII Value of 101 
min("Treehouse") #returns T  which has a ASCII Value of 84 
min("Treehouse!!!") #returns ! which has a ASCII Value of 33 
max("!!!TreehouseZ~~") #returns ~ which has a ASCII Value of 126

Upper case letters have lower ASCII values than lower case letters. Numbers have lower ASCII values than Upper case letters. Some special characters have values lower than Numbers and some have values way higher (more than lower case letters).

Leslie Lewis
Leslie Lewis
1,088 Points
Leslie Lewis
Leslie Lewis
1,088 Points

Yes, I agree. That's how python seems to be evaluating letters. Really, using the Unicode values. Play around with the Unicode table and see how it sorts them. (https://unicode-table.com/en/#02AF)