PHP min() Function

Definition and Usage

The min () function returns lowest element in array, or lowest amongst two or more comma separated parameters.

Syntax

min ( array $values ) : mixed

Or

min ( mixed $value1 [, mixed $... ] ) : mixed

Parameters

Return Values

PHP min() function returns lowest value from the array parameter or sequence of values. Standard comparison operators are applicable. If multiple values of different types evaluate as equal (e.g. 0 and 'PHP') the first parameter to the function will be returned.

PHP Version

This function is available in PHP versions 4.x, PHP 5.x as well as PHP 7.x.

Example

Following example returns smallest value from numeric array.

<?php
   $arg=array(23, 5.55, 142, 56, 99);
   echo "array=";
   foreach ($arg as $i) echo $i . ",";
   echo "\n";
   echo "min = " . min($arg);
?>

Output

This will produce following result −

array=23,5.55,142,56,99,
min = 5.55

Example

Following example returns min() from array of strings.−

<?php
   $arg=array("Java", "Angular", "PHP", "C", "Kotlin");
   echo "array=";
   foreach ($arg as $i) echo $i . ",";
   echo "\n";
   echo "min = " . min($arg);
?>

Output

This will produce following result −

array=Java,Angular,PHP,C,Kotlin,
min = Angular

Example

Series of string values are provided to min() function in following example;

<?php
   $val1="Java";
   $val2="Angular";
   $val3="PHP";
   $val4="C";
   $val5="Kotlin";
   echo "values=" . $val1 . "," . $val2 . "," . $val3 . "," . $val4 . "," . $val5 . "\n";
   echo "min = " . min($val1, $val2, $val3,$val4,$val5);
?>

Output

This will produce following result −

values=Java,Angular,PHP,C,Kotlin
min = Angular

Example

In following example array is a collection of mixed data types −

<?php
   $arg=array(23, "Java", 142, 1e2, 99);
   echo "array=";
   foreach ($arg as $i) echo $i . ",";
   echo "\n";
   echo "min = " . min($arg);
?>

Output

This will produce following result −

array=23,Java,142,100,99,
min = Java