Largest of two distinct numbers without using any conditional statements or operators

Given two positive and distinct numbers, the task is to find the greatest of two given numbers without using any conditional statements(if…) and operators(?: in C/C++/Java).

Examples:

Input: a = 14, b = 15
Output: 15

Input: a = 1233133, b = 124
Output: 1233133

The Approach is to return the value on the basis of the below expression:

a * (bool)(a / b) + b * (bool)(b / a)

The expression a / b will give 1 if a > b and 0 if a < b (only after typecasting the result to bool).
Hence, the answer will be of the form either a + 0 or 0 + b depending upon which one is greater.

C++

// C++ program for above implementation 
#include <iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
// Function to find the largest number 
int largestNum(int a, int b) 
{ 
    return a * (bool)(a / b) + b * (bool)(b / a); 
} 
  
// Drivers code 
int main() 
{ 
    int a = 22, b = 1231; 
    cout << largestNum(a, b); 
  
    return 0; 
} 

Java

// Java program for above implementation 
class GFG  
{ 
  
    // Function to find the largest number 
    static int largestNum(int a, int b)  
    { 
        return a * ((a / b) > 0 ? 1 : 0) + b * ((b / a) > 0 ? 1 : 0); 
    } 
  
    // Drivers code 
    public static void main(String[] args)  
    { 
        int a = 22, b = 1231; 
        System.out.print(largestNum(a, b)); 
    } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar 

Python3

# Function to find the largest number 
def largestNum(a, b): 
    return a * (bool)(a // b) + \ 
           b * (bool)(b // a); 
  
# Driver Code 
a = 22; 
b = 1231; 
print(largestNum(a, b)); 
  
# This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji 

C#

      
// C# program for above implementation 
using System; 
  
class GFG  
{ 
  
    // Function to find the largest number 
    static int largestNum(int a, int b)  
    { 
        return a * ((a / b) > 0 ? 1 : 0) + b * ((b / a) > 0 ? 1 : 0); 
    } 
  
    // Driver code 
    public static void Main(String[] args)  
    { 
        int a = 22, b = 1231; 
        Console.Write(largestNum(a, b)); 
    } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by Rajput-Ji 

PHP

<?php 
// PHP program for above implementation 
  
// Function to find the largest number 
function largestNum($a, $b) 
{ 
    return ($a * (boolean)floor(($a / $b))) +  
           ($b * (boolean)floor(($b / $a))); 
} 
  
// Drivers code 
$a = 22; $b = 1231; 
echo(largestNum($a, $b)); 
  
// This code is contributed 
// by Mukul Singh 

Output:

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My Personal Notes

C++

Java

Python3

C#

PHP

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