Forget all the suggestions you've been given above, real programming students use Quantum::Superpositions to find the maximum and minimum numbers in a list and impress their teachers.

use Quantum::Superpositions;

$max = any(@items) >= all(@items);
$min = any(@items) <= all(@items);
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This runs in constant time on non-deterministic machines, making it the most efficient solution to the problem by far.

Cheers,
Paul