Editing Max (software) (section)

{{short description|Visual programming language}}
{{distinguish|Autodesk 3ds Max}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Max
| logo = Logo Max 8 software.jpg
| logo_size = 140px
| screenshot = 
| caption = 
| developer = [[Cycling '74]]
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q1707206|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q1707206|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = 
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]] (on [[JUCE]] platform)
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]], [[macOS]]
| genre = [[Music]] and [[multimedia]] development
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
| website = {{URL|https://cycling74.com/products/max}}
}}

'''Max''', also known as '''Max/MSP/Jitter''', is a [[visual programming language]] for [[music]] and [[multimedia]] developed and maintained by [[San Francisco]]-based software company [[Cycling '74]]. Over its more than thirty-year history, it has been used by [[composer]]s, performers, [[software design]]ers, researchers, and artists to create recordings, performances, and installations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/culture/music/168579-max-msp-primer|title=Max/MSP for average music junkies|work=Hopes&Fears|access-date=2018-09-16}}</ref>

The Max program is modular, with most routines existing as [[shared library|shared libraries]]. An [[application programming interface]] (API) allows third-party development of new routines (named ''external objects''). Thus, Max has a large user base of programmers unaffiliated with Cycling '74 who enhance the software with commercial and non-commercial [[Software extension|extension]]s to the program. Because of this [[Extensibility|extensible]] design, which simultaneously represents both the [[Computer program|program]]'s structure and its [[graphical user interface]] (GUI), Max has been described as the [[lingua franca]] for developing interactive music performance software.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Place|first1=T.|last2=Lossius|first2=T.|website=Jamoma|url=http://www.jamoma.org/papers/jamoma-icmc2006.pdf|title=A modular standard for structuring patches in Max|publisher=In Proc. of the International Computer Music Conference 2006|pages=143–146|location=New Orleans, US|date=2006|access-date=2011-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726201223/http://www.jamoma.org/papers/jamoma-icmc2006.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-26|url-status=dead}}</ref>