NumPy: function for simultaneous max() and min()

Question

numpy.amax() will find the max value in an array, and numpy.amin() does the same for the min value. If I want to find both max and min, I have to call both functions, which

Answer 1

Inspired by the previous answer I've written numba implementation returning minmax for axis=0 from 2-D array. It's ~5x faster than calling numpy min/max. Maybe someone will find it useful.

from numba import jit

@jit
def minmax(x):
    """Return minimum and maximum from 2D array for axis=0."""    
    m, n = len(x), len(x[0])
    mi, ma = np.empty(n), np.empty(n)
    mi[:] = ma[:] = x[0]
    for i in range(1, m):
        for j in range(n):
            if x[i, j]>ma[j]: ma[j] = x[i, j]
            elif x[i, j]