Thread: Maximum of two values

I know this is probably a pretty stupid question, but I'm a programmer and I'm trying to describe a function which does a math calculation in a mathematical format. Stripped of all but the relevant portion, this is what I'm trying to describe:

Code:

if (x-y) < 0 then 0 else (x-y)

Is there a mathematical symbol or set of symbols used to represent that? Thanks and sorry for bothering you with such a simple question. (I don't know how to phrase this as a good Google search)

yes..it's math symbol..

Originally Posted by VentureFree

I know this is probably a pretty stupid question, but I'm a programmer and I'm trying to describe a function which does a math calculation in a mathematical format. Stripped of all but the relevant portion, this is what I'm trying to describe:

Code:

if (x-y) < 0 then 0 else (x-y)

Is there a mathematical symbol or set of symbols used to represent that? Thanks and sorry for bothering you with such a simple question. (I don't know how to phrase this as a good Google search)

That's not really clear what happening there

Code:

if (x-y) < 0 then z= 0 else z=(x-y)

Would make more sense.

There is a special function in C to do that in a shorthand notation.

Code:

z = (x > y) ? 0 : (x-y);

Else just try max(x-y, 0)

The standard notation is

smokey's method is the way I prefer to do it. But if you're set on a mathematical function try: