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Re: finding max value

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From:
merlyn
Date:
February 13, 2002 07:33
Subject:
Re: finding max value
Message ID:
m1u1sls8fg.fsf@halfdome.holdit.com
>>>>> "Jeff" == Jeff 'Japhy' Pinyan <jeffp@crusoe.net> writes:

Jeff> On Feb 13, Frank said:
>> $max= (sort @values)[-1];

Jeff> You're sorting ASCIIbetically.  You must sort numerically:

Jeff>   (sort { $a <=> $b } @values)[-1];

>> Personally, I'd prefer Japhy's method for efficiency.

Jeff> Yeah, me too. ;)  Sorting to find a min or max is not a good move.

Somebody benchmarked it somewhere recently, and for under 20 or 30
items (I forget the threshold), it was actually faster to *sort* it
than to do the normal high-water-mark algorithm!

Yes, it was counter-intuitive, which is why I remember that. :)

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