Comparison Operators

Expressions that use comparison operators do not return a number value as do arithmetic expressions. Comparison expressions return either a true or false response in terms of 1 or 0 as follows:
1
True
0
False

Comparison operators can compare numbers or strings and ask questions, such as:
  • Are the terms equal?  (A = B)
  • Is the first term greater than the second?  (A > B)
  • Is the first term less than the second?  (A < B)
For example, if A = 4 and B = 3, then the results of the previous comparison questions are:
  • (A = B) Does 4 = 3?       0 (False)
  • (A > B) Is 4 > 3?         1 (True)
  • (A < B) Is 4 < 3?         0 (False)
The more commonly used comparison operators are as follows:
Operator
Meaning
==
Strictly Equal
=
Equal
\ ==
Not strictly equal
\ =
Not equal
>
Greater than
<
Less than
> <
Greater than or less than (same as not equal)
> =
Greater than or equal to
\ <
Not less than
< =
Less than or equal to
\ >
Not greater than
Note: The not character, "¬", is synonymous with the backslash ("\"). The two characters may be used interchangeably according to availability and personal preference. This book uses the backslash ("\") character.