Less than operator

Category:Math

Less than operator

Category: Math

Tests whether a value is less than another value.

Your apps will sometimes need to check the relative size of two values, and then possibly perform some specific action using an if, if-else, or while block. < returns true if the value on the left-hand side of the opertor is strictly less than the value on the right-hand side of the operator.

Examples

// Basic numeric less than check.
var x = 5;
var y = 4;
console.log(x < 4);
console.log(x < y);

Example: Comparing "apples" the "Apples" Basic string less than check. Case matters for string comparison.

// Basic string equality check. Case matters for string comparison.
var x = "apples";
var y = "Apples";
console.log(x < "bananas");
console.log(x < y);

Example: 2 is less than "12"? Numeric string to number conversion is automatic in App Lab.

// Numeric string to number conversion is automatic in App Lab.
var x = 2;
var y = "12";
if(x < y)
{
  console.log("less");
}
else
{
  console.log("not less");
}

Syntax

___ < ___

Parameters

Name	Type	Required?	Description
___	any	Yes	The operands can be a number/string/boolean, or a variable containing a number/string/boolean, or the number/string/boolean returned by a function, or the number/string/boolean result of the evaluation of an expression.

Returns

Boolean true or false

Tips

If you want to test if a value is less than OR equal, you can use the <= operator.
JavaScript will automatically perform type conversion for you when comparing two values (e.g. the integer 5 will register as equivalent to the string "5").
When comparing two strings, JavaScript will compare them alphabetically based on character by character comparison left to right. All the upper case letters come before the lower case letters.
Comparison operators include < <= == > >= !=

Found a bug in the documentation? Let us know at documentation@code.org

Syntax

__ < __

Returns

Boolean (true or false)

Found a bug in the documentation? Let us know at documentation@code.org