Find the maximum Error: no suitable method found for max(int,int,int,int,int)

Question

I'm trying to find out why I'm getting an error compiling my code. It should be finding the maximum and minimum of the variables entered in the for loops. I know the code is redundant, but it's for a class.

   import java.util.*;
   public class ForInputNumbers
   {
      public static void main (String[] args)
      {
      Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);      
      int value1=0,value2=0,value3=0,value4=0,value5=0;

      System.out.println("Please type a number");

      for (; value1==0;System.out.println("Please type the next number"))
      {
      value1 = input.nextInt();
      }

      for (; value2==0;System.out.println("Please type the next number"))
      {
      value2 = input.nextInt();
      }

      for (; value3==0;System.out.println("Please type the next number"))
      {
      value3 = input.nextInt();
      }

      for (; value4==0;System.out.println("Please type the next number"))
      {
      value4 = input.nextInt();
      }

      for (; value5==0;System.out.println("Please type the next number"))
      {
      value5 = input.nextInt();
      }

   System.out.println("Your numbers: "+value1+" "+value2+" "+value3+" "+value4+" "+value5);

   System.out.println("The sum of your numbers: "+(value1+value2+value3+value4+value5));

   System.out.println("The average of your numbers: "+(value1+value2+value3+value4+value5)/5);

   System.out.println("The largest of your numbers: "+(Math.max(value1,value2,value3,value4,value5)));

   System.out.println("The smallest of your numbers: "+(Math.min(value1,value2,value3,value4,value5)));

      }//end main method
   }//end class

My errors:

ForInputNumbers.java:60: error: no suitable method found for max(int,int,int,int,int)
   System.out.println("The largest of your numbers: "+(Math.max(value1,value2,value3,value4,value5)));
                                                           ^
    method Math.max(int,int) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
    method Math.max(long,long) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
    method Math.max(float,float) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
    method Math.max(double,double) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
ForInputNumbers.java:62: error: no suitable method found for min(int,int,int,int,int)
   System.out.println("The smallest of your numbers: "+(Math.min(value1,value2,value3,value4,value5)));
                                                            ^
    method Math.min(int,int) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
    method Math.min(long,long) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
    method Math.min(float,float) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
    method Math.min(double,double) is not applicable
      (actual and formal argument lists differ in length)
2 errors

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Answer 1

Math.max and Math.min only accept pairs of arguments. You can't pass more than 2 parameters.

The neatest way to do this would be to wrap the values into a List<Integer> and then use Collections.max and Collections.min:

List<Integer> values = Arrays.asList(value1, value2, value3, value4, value5);
System.out.println("The largest of your numbers: "+Collections.max(values));
System.out.println("The smallest of your numbers: "+Collections.min(values));

Answer 2

Math.max() only takes 2 arguments, so you have to nest them to find the max of more numbers. In this case it would look like Math.max(value1, Math.max(value2, Math.max(value3, Math.max(value4, value5)))) You will also have to do something similar to this with your Math.min() function. Ideally, you would use an array or list, but it isn't necessary in this case.

Answer 3

EDIT: the Answer by Andy Turner is probably the best.

---

Original Answer:

Math.min and Math.max both expect two number types, so you will need to either call them one after the other keeping the min or max each time, or preferably you will create a recursive utility function that will accept an array and return the min or max value.

Or for a one liner just as an example:

Math.max(value1, Math.max(value2, Math.max(value3, Math.max(value4, value5))));