What is array.min() in Ruby?

Overview

In Ruby, array.min() helps find the element with the minimum value. min() can return a number of elements with minimum values if n is passed as an argument.

Syntax

array.min()
# OR if "n" is specified
array.min([n])

Parameters

[n] (optional): [n] is used when you want to return $n$ number of elements with the highest or minimum values.

Return value

The return value is an element or array that contains the maximum value, or values if n is specified.

Example

In the example below, we create some arrays and use the min() method to find the minimum values.

# creating arrays
languagesArray = ["Java", "C++", "Python", "Javascript", "Ruby on Rails!" ]
numbersArray = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
alphabetsArray = ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e"]
booleanArray = [true, false]
animalsArray = ["dog", "cat", "rat", "cow", "bat"]
# get the min values
a = numbersArray.min()
b = languagesArray.min(2)    # return 2 min values
c = alphabetsArray.min(4)    # return 4 min values
d = animalsArray.min()
# print min returned values
puts "#{numbersArray}.min() = #{a}"
puts "#{languagesArray}.min(2) = #{b}"
puts "#{alphabetsArray}.min(4) = #{c}"
puts "#{animalsArray}.min() = #{d}"

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