Example: Find Largest Element in Array (Using Function) in C

// Find Largest Element in Array (Using Function)
#include <stdio.h>

// Function to find the largest element in an array
int findLargest(int arr[], int size) {
    // Step 1: Handle edge case for an empty array
    if (size <= 0) {
        printf("Error: Array is empty or has invalid size.\n");
        return -1; // Or throw an error, depending on desired error handling
    }

    // Step 2: Initialize 'max' with the first element
    int max = arr[0];

    // Step 3: Iterate through the rest of the array
    for (int i = 1; i < size; i++) {
        // Step 4: Update 'max' if a larger element is found
        if (arr[i] > max) {
            max = arr[i];
        }
    }

    // Step 5: Return the largest element
    return max;
}

int main() {
    // Step 1: Declare and initialize an array
    int myNumbers[] = {55, 10, 99, 3, 72, 8};
    int arraySize = sizeof(myNumbers) / sizeof(myNumbers[0]);

    // Step 2: Call the function to find the largest element
    int largest = findLargest(myNumbers, arraySize);

    // Step 3: Print the result if the function returned a valid value
    if (largest != -1) { // Check for the error return value
        printf("The largest element in the array is: %d\n", largest);
    }

    // Example with an empty array to show error handling
    int emptyArray[] = {};
    int emptySize = 0;
    findLargest(emptyArray, emptySize); // This will print the error message

    return 0;
}