Step 1: Define the function

First, we will define our function. The function will take an array of integers as an argument. Let's call this function findMax and give it the parameter 'arr'.

public static int findMax(int[] arr) {
}

Step 2: Handle Edge Cases

Within this function, we need to handle some edge cases. If the array is null or has zero elements, the function should return Integer.MIN_VALUE since there is no maximum element.

if(arr == null || arr.length == 0) {
    return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
}

Step 3: Initialize the maximum element

Next, we will initialize a variable to keep track of the maximum element. Initially, we will set it to the first element of the array.

int max = arr[0];

Step 4: Find the maximum element

Since we have already considered the first element of the array, we start the loop from index 1. For each element, if the current element is greater than max, we update max.

for(int i = 1; i < arr.length; i++) {
    if(arr[i] > max) {
        max = arr[i];
    }
}

Step 5: Return the maximum element

Finally, we return the max value which will be the maximum element in the array.

return max;

Conclusion

So, the complete function to find the maximum element in an array in java is as follows:

public static int findMax(int[] arr) {
    if(arr == null || arr.length == 0) {
        return Integer.MIN_VALUE;
    }
    int max = arr[0];
    for(int i = 1; i < arr.length; i++) {
        if(arr[i] > max) {
            max = arr[i];
        }
    }
    return max;
}