Max Element in Array

Problem Statement

Given an array of N integers, find and return the maximum element in the array.

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Input / Output

Input: Line 1: Integer N — size of array Line 2: N space-separated integers Output: Single integer — the maximum element Example: Input: 5 3 1 9 2 7 Output: 9

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Constraints

1 ≤ N ≤ 10^5 -10^9 ≤ arr[i] ≤ 10^9

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Understanding the Problem

• We need to scan every element once and track the largest seen so far
• Values can be negative — so never initialize max to 0, use arr[0]
• N up to 10^5 means we need at most O(n) — no nested loops

Edge Cases

• Single element array → return that element
• All negative numbers → max is the least negative (e.g. [-5, -3, -1] → -1)
• All same values → return that value