Operator di C++ (3)

Relational and equality operators ( ==, !=, >, <, >=, <= )

In order to evaluate a comparison between two expressions we can use the relational and equality operators. The result of a relational operation is a Boolean value that can only be true or false, according to its Boolean result.

We may want to compare two expressions, for example, to know if they are equal or if one is greater than the other is. Here is a list of the relational and equality operators that can be used in C++:

== : Equal to

!= : Not equal to

> : Greater than

< : Less than >= Greater than or equal to

<= : Less than or equal to


Here there are some examples:

(7 == 5) // evaluates to false.

(5 > 4) // evaluates to true.

(3 != 2) // evaluates to true.

(6 >= 6) // evaluates to true.

(5 < 5) // evaluates to false.


Of course, instead of using only numeric constants, we can use any valid expression, including variables. Suppose that a=2, b=3 and c=6,

(a == 5) // evaluates to false since a is not equal to 5.

(a*b >= c) // evaluates to true since (2*3 >= 6) is true.

(b+4 > a*c) // evaluates to false since (3+4 > 2*6) is false.

((b=2) == a) // evaluates to true.


Be careful! The operator = (one equal sign) is not the same as the operator == (two equal signs), the first one is an assignment operator (assigns the value at its right to the variable at its left) and the other one (==) is the equality operator that compares whether both expressions in the two sides of it are equal to each other. Thus, in the last expression ((b=2) == a), we first assigned the value 2 to b and then we compared it to a, that also stores the value 2, so the result of the operation is true.


Logical operators ( !, &&, || )

The Operator ! is the C++ operator to perform the Boolean operation NOT, it has only one operand, located at its right, and the only thing that it does is to inverse the value of it, producing false if its operand is true and true if its operand is false. Basically, it returns the opposite Boolean value of evaluating its operand. For example:

!(5 == 5) // evaluates to false because the expression at its right (5 == 5) is true.
!(6 <= 4) // evaluates to true because (6 <= 4) would be false.
! true // evaluates to false
! false // evaluates to true.

The logical operators && and || are used when evaluating two expressions to obtain a single relational result. The operator && corresponds with Boolean logical operation AND. This operation results true if both its two operands are true, and false otherwise.

For example:

( (5 == 5) && (3 > 6) ) // evaluates to false ( true && false ).
( (5 == 5) || (3 > 6) ) // evaluates to true ( true || false ).