Python Program to Find Largest Number in a List (original) (raw)
Last Updated : 11 Nov, 2025
Given a list of numbers, the task is to find the largest number in the list. For Example:
**Input: [10, 24, 76, 23, 12]
**Output: 76
Below are the different methods to perform this task:
Using max() Function
The max() function compares all elements in the list internally and returns the one with the highest value.
Python `
a = [10, 24, 76, 23, 12] res = max(a) print(res)
`
Using reduce() from functools
Applies a function cumulatively to the list elements to compute a single result, here used to find the largest number.
Python `
from functools import reduce a = [10, 24, 76, 23, 12] res = reduce(lambda x, y: x if x > y else y, a) print(res)
`
**Explanation: reduce(lambda x, y: x if x > y else y, a) compares each pair of elements in the list a and keeps the larger one, cumulatively returning the maximum value.
A native approach that iterates through the list and updates a variable if a larger number is found.
Python `
a = [10, 24, 76, 23, 12]
res = a[0] for n in a: if n > res: res = n print(res)
`
**Explanation: Each element is compared to the current largest, and the variable is updated when a bigger number is found.
Using sort()
Sorts the list in ascending order so that the largest element can be accessed at the end.
Python `
a = [10, 24, 76, 23, 12] a.sort() res = a[-1] print(res)
`