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JavaScript JavaScript Basics (Retired) Creating Reusable Code with Functions Create a max() Function

Posted by Francisco Ortiz
Francisco Ortiz
2,673 Points

My code should work! I'm making a conditional statement that shows that variable b will be returned if it's bigger!

Why is this not being accepted? I am calling the function and b is being returned as it is truly bigger. I mean, isn't b being returned in this function?

script.js 
function max(a,b){
if(a > b){
  console.log('a is smaller, therefore it will not return')
} else{
  return b
};
max(a,b);
Francisco Ortiz
Francisco Ortiz
2,673 Points

I can see that I did not input any value inside the argument of the function that I am using to call the function.

3 Answers

joelearner
joelearner
54,915 Points
joelearner
joelearner
54,915 Points

Hi Fransisco,

You are very close to the solution. You really just need to simplify your answer and work on a syntax issue. For the syntax, you will need to close the else portion with an extra "}" closing bracket. Then, you can eliminate the call for max at the end because you will get a return with function that you have, at least according to the challenge. Your code should look something like this:

function max(a,b){
if(a > b){
  console.log('a is smaller, therefore it will not return');
} else{
  return b;}
};

Cheers!

Kuanyshbek Ospanov
Kuanyshbek Ospanov
17,416 Points
Kuanyshbek Ospanov
Kuanyshbek Ospanov
17,416 Points

You must return a higher variable. But there nothing you are returning

if (a>b) {
 console.log('a is smaller, therefore it will not return')
}

Try this code 

if (a>b) {
 return a
} else {
 return b
}
andrew gibbs
andrew gibbs
6,063 Points
andrew gibbs
andrew gibbs
6,063 Points

Hey Francisco, This has been addressed before, but I will give some more insight into how I would think of it. Your max function returns the largest of two numbers. The way you wrote it, you assumed that b would always be the max value. However, the possibility exists where a is the larger value and for that you need to return a since parameters into max could be for example (5,4) or (4,5) and those would have different results. Hope that helps in your thought process for future problems.