Create a new function named max() which accepts two numbers as arguments. The function should return the larger of the t

The purpose of a function is that it can accept any value (like a number or a string) as an argument (the values inside parenthesis after the name) and perform operations on it.

On the first line, you are declaring a function called max.

function max(20,10){
// ...

Inside of the parenthesis, there are 2 arguments. The problem is, these must be valid javascript identifiers (variables). They cannot start with a number (see http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_variables.asp).

The first thing to do is change the arguments you define into valid js variables, like this:

function max(a,b){
// ...

(It doesn't matter much what you name them, since they are only used inside of this function and not in the global scope. In more complex programs it is beneficial to give more descriptive names.)

Now that the function is ready to take in arguments (we'll do that last), we can create the logic inside of the function block using those arguments just like variables:

function max(a, b) {
    if (a > b) {
        return a;
    }
}

Notice that we are using the same argument names that we defined in the first line, so the javascript interpreter knows we are referring to whatever was passed in to the function as an argument (not the literal letter "a").

Now this almost works, but what happens if b is greater than a? Nothing, so here we need to use more logic to cover all possible scenarios.

function max(a, b) {
    if (a > b) {
        return a;
    } else {
      return b;
    }
}

Now, the function checks first if the first argument is greater, then returns (exits) if it is. If the first argument is not greater, then for the purposes of this exercise we can assume that the second argument is greater, so we return b.

When you input this code into Team Treehouse's quiz box, they will test your code by calling the max() function with different arguments and checking the answers, like this:

max(20,10) // => 20, CORRECT
max(10,20) // => 20, CORRECT
max(0,100) // => 100, CORRECT
max(45,-45) // => 45, CORRECT

var a = 15; var b = 25;

function max(a, b) { if (a > b) { return a; } else { return b; } }

solution I used:

function max(a, b){
  if (a>b){
    return a;
  }else if (a==b){
    return a;
  }else{
    return b;
  };
};
console.log(max(2,3));

noice!

Great explanation, thank you!

I haven't got the answer. I am confused by the bracketing and when to enter my variables. I keep checking other websites for solutions and they give me various other examples but they don't help me solve this problem. It would be great if I could have my previous Workspaces open while I was solving this problem or if I could cut in paste on my previous solved functions to a file that I could use while solving these problems.

var a = 15; var b = 25;

function max(a, b) { if (a > b) { return a; } else { return b; } }

it's the answer.

Could be this an another way to solve and to find the max number?

function myFunction(  num1, num2 ) {
   return Math.max( num1, num2 );
}
document.write( myFunction( 18, 9 ) );

thanks very helpful with clear steps

const par1 = 3; const par2 = 5; function max(par1,par2){ if(par1<par2){ return par2; } }

function max(blue, red) { if (blue < red) { return red; } else { return blue; } }

let blue = 20; let red = 30;

Needing a conditional statement kinda made it easier imo

function max(a, b){ if (a > b){ return a; } else { return b; } }

Figured it out!

function max (a, b) { if (a > b) { return a; } else { return b; } }