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Comparison Operators

Beginner ~15 min read

Comparison operators (relational operators) are used to compare two values. The result of any comparison operation is always a boolean value: either true or false.

The 6 Comparison Operators

Java provides six standard operators for comparing primitive values:

Operator Name Example (assume x=5, y=3) Result
== Equal to x == y false
!= Not equal to x != y true
> Greater than x > y true
< Less than x < y false
>= Greater than or equal to x >= y true
<= Less than or equal to x <= y false
Output 
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Common Pitfalls

1. Assignment (=) vs Equality (==)

Problem: Using a single equals sign = instead of double equals ==.

// Wrong
if (x = 5) { ... } // Compiler error! (Assignment, not boolean)

// Correct
if (x == 5) { ... } // Comparison
Comparing Objects: Be very careful when comparing objects (like String) with ==.
  • For primitives (int, char, boolean), == compares values.
  • For objects (Strings, Arrays), == compares memory addresses (references).

To compare String content, always use .equals().

String s1 = "Hello";
String s2 = new String("Hello");

System.out.println(s1 == s2);       // false (different objects)
System.out.println(s1.equals(s2));  // true (same content)

Summary

  • Comparison operators always return a boolean result.
  • Use == for equality and != for inequality.
  • Use >, <, >=, <= for range checks.
  • Do not confuse = (assignment) with == (equality).
  • Use .equals() when comparing Strings, not ==.
Previous Arithmetic Operators
Next Logical Operators →