Return from list the double value that has the highest absolute value, without making the return value absolute

Question

Short of iterating the collection, is there a way to return the double in a set that has the highest absolute value without making the values in the set actually absolute?

double[] vals = new double[] { 2.3, 1.7, -3.8};

vals.Max(v => Math.Abs(v)); // This returns 3.8 instead of -3.8

Answer 1

One approach to consider:

var max = vals
    .OrderByDescending(z => Math.Abs(z))
    .FirstOrDefault();

Alternatively, consider using MoreLinq's MaxBy. It is faster than both my and Samvel's solution, especially for larger sets of inputs.

var max = vals.MaxBy(z => Math.Abs(z));