Comparison

In addition to comparing for equality with == and !=, ints can be compared to see if one is bigger than another using >, <, >=, and <=.

> will evaluate to true if the number on the left is greater than the one on the right.

boolean willBeTrue = 5 > 2;
boolean willBeFalse = 2 > 5;

< will evaluate to true if the number on the right is greater than the one on the left.

boolean willBeFalse = 5 < 2;
boolean willBeTrue = 2 < 5;

If you went to public school like I did, you should be used to imagining that the > was the jaw of a shark. Whatever direction the Jaws are facing, thats the one that would need to be bigger for the statement to be true.1

// true if the shark is facing the bigger number
// false otherwise.
boolean result = 9 🦈 5;

>= behaves the same as > except >= will evaluate to true if the numbers are identical, > will not.

boolean willBeTrue = 5 >= 5;
boolean willBeFalse = 5 > 5;

<= has the same relationship to < as >= does to >.

boolean willBeTrue = 5 <= 5;
boolean willBeFalse = 5 < 5;

  1. Shark attacks are far more rare than people think they are. You are not a seal. ↩