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

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": 0.026572007
  },
  {
    "x": "8/12/2009",
    "y": 0.025057454
  },
  {
    "x": "8/13/2009",
    "y": 0.024530916
  },
  {
    "x": "8/14/2009",
    "y": 0.031004457
  }
]

Is a for-loop the only way to go about it? I'm keen on somehow using Math.max.

Solution 1:

To find the maximum y value of the objects in array:

Math.max.apply(Math, array.map(function(o) { return o.y; }))

Solution 2:

Find the object whose property "Y" has the greatest value in an array of objects

One way would be to use Array reduce..

const max = data.reduce(function(prev, current) {
    return (prev.y > current.y) ? prev : current
}) //returns object

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/Reduce http://caniuse.com/#search=reduce (IE9 and above)

If you don't need to support IE (only Edge), or can use a pre-compiler such as Babel you could use the more terse syntax.

const max = data.reduce((prev, current) => (prev.y > current.y) ? prev : current)

Solution 3:

clean and simple ES6 (Babel)

const maxValueOfY = Math.max(...arrayToSearchIn.map(o => o.y), 0);

The second parameter should ensure a default value if arrayToSearchIn is empty.