What is the "maximum"

[ghostchaox]

I don't understand what this is supposed to mean when used with a set of numbers like:

maximum of {x,y}

Can anybody help?

[Werg22]

Are x and y independent variables?

[berkeman]

Plot these numbers as a smooth line:

-1,-1
0,0
1,-1

What is the local maximum around x=0?

[Stevedye56]

Is {x,y} a set of coordinates on the curve? Or are they the actual point of the relative maximum.

[prasannapakkiam]

Well if you mean extremas, then you {x,y} must be a stationary point where the gradient of the tangent is equal to 0.

If so, then it is talking about the nature of the curve. An example is:
consider the graphs of the following...
y=x^2, at x=0, it is a minimum stationary point.
y=-x^2, at x=0, it is a maximum stationary point.

[robphy]

I don't understand what this is supposed to mean when used with a set of numbers like:

maximum of {x,y}

Can anybody help?

Based on what you wrote,

maximum of {x,y} =
x, if x>=y
y, otherwise