Finding the max value of an attribute in an array of objects

Question

I\'m looking for a really quick, clean and efficient way to get the max \"y\" value in the following JSON slice:

[
  {
    \"x\": \"8/11/2009\",
    \"y\": 0         


        

Answer 1

Comparison of tree ONELINERS which handle minus numbers case (input in a array):

var maxA = a.reduce((a,b)=>a.y>b.y?a:b).y; // 30 chars time complexity:  O(n)

var maxB = a.sort((a,b)=>b.y-a.y)[0].y;    // 27 chars time complexity:  O(nlogn)
           
var maxC = Math.max(...a.map(o=>o.y));     // 26 chars time complexity: >O(2n)

editable example here. Ideas from: maxA, maxB and maxC (side effect of maxB is that array a is changed because sort is in-place).

var a = [
  {"x":"8/11/2009","y":0.026572007},{"x":"8/12/2009","y":0.025057454},    
  {"x":"8/14/2009","y":0.031004457},{"x":"8/13/2009","y":0.024530916}
]

var maxA = a.reduce((a,b)=>a.y>b.y?a:b).y;
var maxC = Math.max(...a.map(o=>o.y));
var maxB = a.sort((a,b)=>b.y-a.y)[0].y;

document.body.innerHTML=`<pre>maxA: ${maxA}\nmaxB: ${maxB}\nmaxC: ${maxC}</pre>`;

For bigger arrays the Math.max... will throw exception: Maximum call stack size exceeded (Chrome 76.0.3809, Safari 12.1.2, date 2019-09-13)

let a = Array(400*400).fill({"x": "8/11/2009", "y": 0.026572007 }); 

// Exception: Maximum call stack size exceeded

try {
  let max1= Math.max.apply(Math, a.map(o => o.y));
} catch(e) { console.error('Math.max.apply:', e.message) }

try {
  let max2= Math.max(...a.map(o=>o.y));
} catch(e) { console.error('Math.max-map:', e.message) }

Benchmark for the 4 element array