Chapter 9. Comparing Data

In this chapter, we will discuss one of the most basic and frequent operations you will perform as you program: comparing data. In our bookstore example, you may need to compare book titles if your clients are looking for a specific book. You may also need to compare authors if your clients are interested in purchasing books by a specific author. Comparing data is a common tasks for developers. Many of the loops you learned about in the previous chapter will require you to compare data to know when your code should stop looping.

Comparing data in programming is like using a scale. You have one value on one side and another value on the other side. In the middle you have an operator. The operator determines what kind of comparison is being done. Examples of operators are "greater then," "less than," or "equal to."