The smallest smallest

[rbandrews]

In Ruby:

def smallest a, b=nil, *c
  b ? smallest( (a<b ? a : b), *c ) : a
end

smallest(9,8,5,2,3) # is 2

Can anyone do better?

Comments

[heptadecagram.livejournal.com]

def smallest *all
    all.sort[0]
end

Then again, yours is O(n) versus my O(n log n)

[rbandrews]

Yeah, I think mine's the shortest optimal one.