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diff --git a/source/lang/comparison.rst b/source/lang/comparison.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8873256 --- /dev/null +++ b/source/lang/comparison.rst @@ -0,0 +1,87 @@ +.. highlight:: cpp + +.. _lang-comparison: + +Comparison Operators +==================== + +The comparison operators ``==``, ``!=``, ``<``, ``>``, ``<=``, and +``>=`` are used to compare two numbers. They are :ref:`true +<lang-constants-true>` when the comparison is true, and :ref:`false +<lang-constants-false>` otherwise. They are based on the symbols +=, ≠, <, >, ≤, and ≥ from mathematics. + +Here are some examples, with their meaning in comments:: + + // "eq" is true when x is equal to y + bool eq = (x == y); + + // "neq" is true when x is different than y + bool neq = (x != y); + + // "lt" is true when x is less than, but NOT equal to, y + bool lt = (x < y); + + // "gt" is true when x is greater than, but NOT equal to, y + bool gt = (x > y); + + // "lte" is true when x is less than or equal to y + bool lte = (x <= y); + + // "gte" is true when x is greater than or equal to y + bool gte = (x >= y); + +The parentheses are optional; they are present only for clarity. For +example, the following two lines are the same:: + + bool eq = x == y; + + bool eq = (x == y); + +Uses +---- + +Comparison operators, along with :ref:`boolean operators +<lang-boolean>`, are useful inside the conditionals of :ref:`if +<lang-if>` statements. Here's one example:: + + if (x < 50) { + // only execute these lines if x is less than 50 + SerialUSB.println("delaying:"); + SerialUSB.println(x); + delay(x); + } + +.. warning:: + Beware of accidentally using the single equal sign (``=``) when you + meant to test if two numbers are equal (``==``). This is a common + mistake inside of ``if`` statement conditionals, e.g.:: + + // DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE + if (x = 10) { + // body + } + + The single equal sign is the assignment operator, and sets x to 10 + (puts the value 10 into the variable x). Instead use the double equal + sign (e.g. ``if (x == 10)``), which is the comparison operator, and + tests *whether* x is equal to 10 or not. The latter statement is only + true if x equals 10, but the former statement will always be true. + + This is because C evaluates the statement ``if (x=10)`` as follows: 10 + is assigned to x (remember that the single equal sign is the + :ref:`assignment operator <lang-assignment>`), so x now + contains 10. Then the 'if' conditional evaluates 10, which evaluates + to :ref:`true <lang-constants-true>`, since any non-zero number + evaluates to ``true``. + + Consequently, the conditional of an ``if`` statement like ``if (x = + 10) {...}`` will always evaluate to ``true``, and the variable x + will be set to 10, which is probably not what you meant. + + (This sometimes has uses, though, so just because an assignment + appears within a conditional doesn't mean it's automatically wrong. + Be careful to know what you mean.) + + +.. include:: cc-attribution.txt |