\subsection{max() Key Function}

As many other built-in functions, the \lstinline{max()} function allows you to specify a key function.

This allows you to (for instance) have a list of strings of integers and select the largest number of them.

Without specifying \lstinline{key}, the wrong element is being selected.

\lstinputlisting[caption=max\_int\_in\_list\_of\_str.py]{../standard_lib/max_int_in_list_of_str.py}

\begin{lstlisting}[caption=Output of max\_int\_in\_list\_of\_str.py]

$ python max_int_in_list_of_str.py

9

222

\end{lstlisting}

| max_int_in_list_of_str | Get the largest number from a list of strings |

numbers = ["9", "44", "8", "222"]

max_string = max(numbers)

print(f"Max string: {max_string}")

max_number = max(numbers, key=int)

print(f"Max number: {max_number}")