Which built-in Python function returns the character with the highest Unicode…

Concept

A Python string is an iterable sequence of Unicode characters. Character ordering is based on Unicode code points, and max(iterable) returns the greatest item under that ordering.

Therefore, for a non-empty string, applying max() compares its characters and returns the one with the highest code point.

Application

Consider 'Az': ord('A') is 65, while ord('z') is 122. Hence max('Az') returns 'z'. The same rule applies to the string in the question.

Contrast

• len() returns the number of characters, not a character.

• hvalue() is not a predefined Python built-in function.

• long() is not a Python 3 built-in function; in Python 2 it referred to integer conversion rather than selecting a character.

Result

max() is the offered function that returns the character with the highest Unicode code point.