Comparison Operators

You’ll learn the six comparison operators—they compare two values and give you True or False. You use them in conditions (like inside an if or a while loop) so your program can decide whether to run a block of code.

The six comparison operators

Each operator goes between two values. The result is always True or False (a boolean).

Operator	Meaning	Example	Result
`==`	equal to	`5 == 5`	`True`
`!=`	not equal to	`5 != 3`	`True`
`<`	less than	`3 < 5`	`True`
`>`	greater than	`5 > 3`	`True`
`<=`	less than or equal to	`3 <= 3`	`True`
`>=`	greater than or equal to	`5 >= 5`	`True`

To check if two values are equal, use two equals signs: ==. A single = assigns a value to a variable; it doesn’t compare.

Using comparison operators in conditions

You’ll usually put a comparison inside an if (or while). The condition is either true or false, and Python runs the block only when it’s true.


age = 15
 
if age >= 13:
    print("You can see this movie.")
else:
    print("This movie is for older audiences.")

Here, age >= 13 is the condition. Python evaluates it to True or False, then chooses which block to run. You can compare numbers, strings (e.g. name == "Alex"), and other types—just use values that make sense to compare.

Quick examples


score = 85
print(score >= 70)   # True
print(score == 100)  # False
 
grade_letter = "B"
print(grade_letter == "B")  # True
print(grade_letter != "A")  # True

Comparison operators always give you a boolean. Once you’re comfortable with these, you can combine conditions using logical operators (and, or, not) on the next page.