Understanding Comparison Operators in Programming

What Are Comparison Operators?

Comparison operators are used to compare two values or expressions. They always return a boolean value: either true or false. These operators are essential in decision-making logic like conditions and loops.

List of Common Comparison Operators

• == : Equal to
• != : Not equal to
• > : Greater than
• < : Less than
• >= : Greater than or equal to
• <= : Less than or equal to

Example 1: Using == (Equal To)

SET a TO 5
SET b TO 5
IF a == b THEN
    PRINT "a and b are equal"
ELSE
    PRINT "a and b are not equal"
END IF

a and b are equal

Question: What happens if a was 5 and b was 10?

Answer: The result would be false, so it would print "a and b are not equal".

Example 2: Using != (Not Equal To)

SET x TO 10
SET y TO 20
IF x != y THEN
    PRINT "x and y are different"
ELSE
    PRINT "x and y are the same"
END IF

x and y are different

Example 3: Using > and <

SET age TO 18
IF age > 21 THEN
    PRINT "You are allowed entry"
ELSE
    PRINT "Entry denied"
END IF

Entry denied

Question: Why was entry denied even though age is 18?

Answer: Because the condition checks if age > 21, and 18 is not greater than 21.

Example 4: Using >= and <=

SET marks TO 75
IF marks >= 60 THEN
    PRINT "You passed"
ELSE
    PRINT "You failed"
END IF

You passed

Tip: Use >= when you want to include the boundary value as valid. In this case, even 60 would result in "You passed".

When Are Comparison Operators Used?

They are primarily used in:

• Conditional statements like IF, ELSE IF
• Loops to repeat code until a condition is false
• Filtering or searching through data

Summary

• Comparison operators return either true or false.
• They are essential for decision-making in code.
• Always check whether the operator you use includes the boundary (like >= vs >).

Understanding how these operators work is important before diving into more advanced topics like loops, functions, or algorithms.