Math Functions
PHP Manual

min

Find lowest value

Description

mixed min ( array $values )
mixed min ( mixed $value1 , mixed $value2 [, mixed $... ] )

If the first and only parameter is an array, min returns the lowest value in that array. If at least two parameters are provided, min returns the smallest of these values.

Note:

PHP will evaluate a non-numeric string as 0 if compared to integer, but still return the string if it's seen as the numerically lowest value. If multiple arguments evaluate to 0, min will return the lowest alphanumerical string value if any strings are given, else a numeric 0 is returned.

Parameters

values

An array containing the values.

value1

Any comparable value.

value2

Any comparable value.

...

Any comparable value.

Return Values

min returns the numerically lowest of the parameter values.

Examples

Example #1 Example uses of min

<?php
echo min(2, 3, 1, 6, 7);  // 1
echo min(array(2, 4, 5)); // 2

echo min(0, 'hello');     // 0
echo min('hello', 0);     // hello
echo min('hello', -1);    // -1

// With multiple arrays, min compares from left to right
// so in our example: 2 == 2, but 4 < 5
$val = min(array(2, 4, 8), array(2, 5, 1)); // array(2, 4, 8)

// If both an array and non-array are given, the array
// is never returned as it's considered the largest
$val = min('string', array(2, 5, 7), 42);   // string
?>

Example #2 Example of NULL/FALSE value with min

<?php
// PHP compares variable as boolean when one of operand is boolean.
var_dump(min(-100,-10, NULL, 10, 100);  // NULL  - (bool)NULL  < (bool)-100 is FALSE < TRUE
var_dump(min(-100,-10, FALSE, 10, 100); // FALSE - (bool)FALSE < (bool)-100 is FALSE < TRUE
?>

See Also

  • max
  • count