How to get min or max element in a vector of objects in c++, based on some field of the object?

Question

(This is a related question, but there are difference with my case that makes me doubt my understanding of it).

I have this class:

class MyOwnClass
{         


        

Answer 1

That your elements are of different types it doesn't matter, you can always compare the field you're interested in:

std::vector MySuperVector(20);

// A pred function to adjust according to your score
bool comparator(const MyOwnClass& s1, const MyOwnClass& s2) {
    return s1.score < s2.score;
}

int main() {
    MySuperVector[0].score = 23; // This will be returned
    MySuperVector[1].score = 2;
    MySuperVector[5].score = -22;

    auto element = std::max_element(MySuperVector.begin(), 
                                    MySuperVector.end(), comparator);

    std::cout << element->score; // 23
}

Example

Notice that you don't even need the minmax_element function since you're just asking for the greatest element (max_element is a better fit).

If the runtime efficiency to find your greatest value matters, you might want to take a look at priority_queues (heap adaptors).