When you learn the basics of most programming languages, you will definitely come across operators.
In this tutorial, we’ll explore Python’s inequality operator and also look at some examples of how it works.
Python operators and operands
Before talking about inequality operators, let’s understand what operators and operands are in general.
Operators are symbols that represent a particular type of action or process. Perform a specific operation on a specific value or variable. These values or variables are called the operands of the operator, so the operator performs an operation on them and returns a value.
Here are some examples of operators and how they interact with their operands.
Addition figure (+)
a = 10
b = 10
print(a + b)
# returns 20
The operator here is the + sign, which adds the values of the operands a and b.
Multiplication operator (*)
c = 10
d = 10
print(a * b)
# returns 100
As in the last example, * is the operator, and c and d are the operands.
Not equal operator (!=)
firstNumber = 10
secondNumber = 20
print(firstNumber != secondNumber)
# returns True
Again, the operator is the symbol !=and the operands are firstNumber and secondNumber.
Python has many other operators divided into groups, but this tutorial will focus on the inequality operator (!=)
Different from Python operators
Inequality operators are relational or comparison operators that compare two or more values (operands). Returns true or false depending on the result of the operation.
If the compared values are equal, the returned value is true. If the compared values are not equal, the value false is returned.
!= is the symbol used for the not equal operator. Let’s see some examples of how it works.
How to compare numbers with the != operator in Python
Here we define two variables and compare their values.
a = 600
b = 300
print(a != b)
# True
Because the value of a is not identical to the value of b, the aforementioned procedure as predicted yields true. Here is the code above in plain English. Rewrite each line below if it’s still difficult to understand.
a is equal to 600
b is equal to 300
print(the value of a does not equal the value of b)
# True, the value of a is not equal to the value of b
That ought to make it simpler.
We’ll compare more than two values after that.
a = 600
b = 300
c = 300
print(a != b & c)
# True
You were probably attempting to add some of the data during the comparison if you were anticipating a value of false.
The operator will only consider the values of each operand in order to compare them all without combining any operands together, making this easier to understand.
If a, b, and c were triplets, each child’s face would be a different number. The statement made by the!= operator, “I have made my observations and decided that the three newborns are not facially identical,” is now entirely True.
The value returned will be false if all the operands are the same and the!= operator is used. Which is:
a = 600
b = 600
c = 600
print(a != b & c)
# False
In this case, the triplets all have the same face, despite!=‘s assertion that “all the babies do not have the same face,” which is incorrect because their faces are identically represented by number, 600.
Python list comparison with the!= operator
We compared the values of the numbers in the previous section. List comparison will be done in this section. Multiple items can be kept in a single variable by using lists.
a = [2, 3]
b = [2, 3]
print(a != b)
# False
The two lists are identical, as we saw in the previous section, hence the value is False. If both operands were different, it would be True.
You should constantly keep in mind that the value will be True if the operands are not the same and False if they are, in order to better understand the concept of True or False being returned when using the!= operator.
You may compare Strings, dictionaries, tuples, and sets using the!= operator as well.
How to use the Python!= operator with an if statement
In some circumstances, it could be preferable to execute a specific command only after comparing two variables. Consider the following illustration:
a = 21
b = 10
if ( a != b ):
print ("True. a is not equal to b")
else:
print ("False. a is equal to b")
# True. a is not equal to b
The if statement determines whether the operand values are different before printing a message based on the result.
This is a pretty simple illustration. As a Python developer, you’ll build more complex (but not necessarily difficult) logic to carry out numerous tasks.
Conclusion
This article provided a primer on how to use Python’s not equal (!=) operator and highlighted a few examples to clarify its use.
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