<p>"<strong>Select a largest/leftmost</strong>" is the usual way of phrasing this. If, in the particular situation, you feel it would help to make it explicit, you could say something like "Select a largest element from the set&nbsp;$X$ (which is not necessarily unique)".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-31T10:14:09.943Z
2013-10-31T10:14:09.943Z
David Richerby
<p>Many algorithms include a step such as "select the largest number from a given numeric array", or "select the leftmost point from a given set of points", etc. In many cases, it is possible that the set contains more than one largest/leftmost element, and in this case, it irrelevant which largest element to choose.</p>

<p>My question is: when I describe an algorithm in a CS paper, is there a concise way to say: "Select the largest element from set X, and if there is more than one largest elements, select one of them arbitrarily"? Currently this sentence appears many times and makes my algorithms look unneccessarily cumbersome.</p>

<p>I thought of writing: "Select <strong>a</strong> largest element from set X" or "select <strong>one</strong> leftmost point from set X". Is this clear enough?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-31T12:16:56.833Z
It is clear, or maybe even "Select an arbitrary largest element". Maybe this is better suited for [CS.SE]?
Juho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-31T15:55:40.857Z
I prefer to say "select a maximum element".
Tyson Williams
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-01T19:38:26.280Z
You can also use select an optimal answer.
Kaveh
<ds.algorithms><terminology>
How to say "select the largest" when there can be more than one
Erel Segal-Halevi
# How to say "select the largest" when there can be more than one

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-10-31)

Many algorithms include a step such as "select the largest number from a given numeric array", or "select the leftmost point from a given set of points", etc. In many cases, it is possible that the set contains more than one largest/leftmost element, and in this case, it irrelevant which largest element to choose.

My question is: when I describe an algorithm in a CS paper, is there a concise way to say: "Select the largest element from set X, and if there is more than one largest elements, select one of them arbitrarily"? Currently this sentence appears many times and makes my algorithms look unneccessarily cumbersome.

I thought of writing: "Select **a** largest element from set X" or "select **one** leftmost point from set X". Is this clear enough?

**Tags:** ds.algorithms, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is clear, or maybe even "Select an arbitrary largest element". Maybe this is better suited for [CS.SE]?  
> **username_2**: I prefer to say "select a maximum element".  
> **username_3**: You can also use select an optimal answer.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-10-31. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

"**Select a largest/leftmost**" is the usual way of phrasing this. If, in the particular situation, you feel it would help to make it explicit, you could say something like "Select a largest element from the set $X$ (which is not necessarily unique)".


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