Min/Max of dates in an array?

How can I find out the min and the max date from an array of dates? Currently, I am creating an array like this:

var dates = [];
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/25"))
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/26"))
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/27"))
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/28"))

Is there a built-in function to do this or am I to write my own?

Solution 1:

Code is tested with IE,FF,Chrome and works properly:

var dates=[];
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/25"))
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/26"))
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/27"))
dates.push(new Date("2011/06/28"))
var maxDate=new Date(Math.max.apply(null,dates));
var minDate=new Date(Math.min.apply(null,dates));

Solution 2:

Something like:

var min = dates.reduce(function (a, b) { return a < b ? a : b; }); 
var max = dates.reduce(function (a, b) { return a > b ? a : b; });

Tested on Chrome 15.0.854.0 dev

Solution 3:

_.min and _.max work on arrays of dates; use those if you're using Lodash or Underscore, and consider using Lodash (which provides many utility functions like these) if you're not already.

For example,

_.min([
    new Date('2015-05-08T00:07:19Z'),
    new Date('2015-04-08T00:07:19Z'),
    new Date('2015-06-08T00:07:19Z')
])

will return the second date in the array (because it is the earliest).