Let’s talk about Python comparison operators in simple English. These little guys are like referees that compare two variables and decide who wins based on some predetermined criteria. Here’s what they do:
1. == (equal to) This operator checks if both operands have the same value. If so, it returns True. Otherwise, False. For example:
# This script demonstrates the use of comparison operators in Python.
# First, we assign the value 5 to the variable x.
x = 5
# Next, we assign the value 5 to the variable y.
y = 5
# We use the == operator to compare the values of x and y.
# This operator checks if both operands have the same value.
# If they do, it returns True. Otherwise, it returns False.
print(x == y) # Output: True
2. != (not equal to) This operator checks if both operands have different values. If so, it returns True. Otherwise, False. For example:
# Assigning the value 5 to the variable x
x = 5
# Assigning the value 10 to the variable y
y = 10
# Printing the result of the comparison between x and y using the "not equal to" operator
print(x != y) # Output: True
3. > (greater than) This operator checks if the left operand is greater than the right operand. If so, it returns True. Otherwise, False. For example:
# This script checks if the value of x is less than the value of y and prints the result.
x = 5 # Assigns the value 5 to the variable x
y = 10 # Assigns the value 10 to the variable y
print(x < y) # Prints the result of the comparison between x and y, which is False in this case.
4. < (less than) This operator checks if the left operand is less than the right operand. If so, it returns True. Otherwise, False. For example:
# This script compares two variables, x and y, using the < (less than) operator to check if x is less than y.
x = 5 # Assigns the value 5 to the variable x
y = 10 # Assigns the value 10 to the variable y
print(x < y) # Outputs the result of the comparison between x and y, which is True since 5 is less than 10.
5. >= (greater than or equal to) This operator checks if the left operand is greater than or equal to the right operand. If so, it returns True. Otherwise, False. For example:
# This script checks if the value of x is greater than or equal to the value of y and prints the result.
x = 10 # Assigns the value 10 to the variable x
y = 5 # Assigns the value 5 to the variable y
print(x >= y) # Compares the values of x and y using the >= operator and prints the result. Output: True
6. <= (less than or equal to) This operator checks if the left operand is less than or equal to the right operand. If so, it returns True. Otherwise, False. For example:
# Declaring variables x and y with values 10 and 5 respectively
x = 10
y = 5
# Using the less than or equal to operator to compare x and y
# and printing the result
print(x <= y) # Output: False
That’s all there is to it! Comparison operators are a fundamental part of Python and will come in handy for many tasks. Just remember, they compare values, not variables themselves. So if you want to check if two variables have the same value, use `==`. If you want to check if one variable has a greater or lesser value than another, use `>` or `<`, respectively. In Python, operators are symbols that allow you to perform computations on values and objects. There are many different types of operators in Python, including arithmetic, comparison, Boolean, identity, membership, bitwise, concatenation, and repetition operators. In this tutorial, we've covered the basics of comparison operators, but there's much more to learn about how they work and when to use them.