The C++ Standard Library consists of the header, <algorithm> which defines a collection of functions (principally designed to deal with a range of elements). max_element() is a method in the STL that returns an iterator pointing to the largest value in a given container (arrays, vectors, lists) in the specified range.
Syntax:
max_element(iterator_begin, iterator_end); //find largest element from [begin,end) max_element(iterator_begin, iterator_end, comparator); //for comparison based on a pre defined function
Parameters: The max_element() method accepts 3 parameters
- iterator_begin: Random access iterator to the initial position
- iterator_end: Random access iterator to the final position ( Note: the range is [iterator_begin,iterator_end) )
- comparator: Binary function that accepts two elements in the range as arguments, and returns a value convertible to bool.
Return value: An iterator to largest value in the range, or iterator_end if the range is empty.
Example of max_element() method
#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;
bool absolute(int a, int b)
{
return (abs(a) < abs(b));
}
int main()
{
vector<int> v;
v.push_back(4);
v.push_back(6);
v.push_back(8);
v.push_back(-3);
v.push_back(-10);
vector<int>::iterator it = max_element(v.begin(),v.end());
cout<<"Max element: "<< *it << endl;
vector<int>::iterator it2 = max_element(v.begin(), v.end(), absolute); //using a defined comparator
cout<<"Max element (absolute): "<< *it2 << endl;
}
Output:
Max element: 8 Max element (absolute): -10
