In this article, we would discuss relational operators in C programming language. With the help of relational operators, we get to compare two values. Accordingly, as per the instructions specified, we get the outcome as either true/false or 1/0.
Relational operators basically helps us reach a decision. Besides, we mostly use them in loops. For example:
for (i = 1; i < 5; i++)
{
printf("%d ", i);
}
where, < is a relational operator.
The test expressions indicates that for loop will run till value of variable i is less than 5. Here, < compares the left operand i.e. i with the right operand i.e. 5
There are mainly six types of relational operators in C programming language. We will discuss each of those in next section using relevant examples.
Relational Operators in C
Operator I.
| < | if the left operand is less than the right operand | If it comes out to be so, then it returns with the value either true or 1. |
Operator II.
| > | if the left operand is greater than the right operand. | Returns value true or 1 if the condition satisfies. |
Operator III.
| <= | if the left operand is less than or equal to the right operand. | If it comes out to be so, then it returns with the value either true or 1. |
Operator IV.
| >= | if the left operand is greater than or equal to the right operand. | Returns value true or 1 if the condition satisfies. |
Operator V.
| == | to check if the left operand is equal to right operand. | Note: This is different from = (assignment operator) which is used to assign a variable. |
Operator VI.
| != | to check if the left operand is not equal to right operand. | Returns value true or 1 if the condition satisfies. |
Now, we will illustrate the above with the help of a program.
// Relational operators
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 100, b = 25;
printf("Value of A is 100 and B is 25 \n");
printf("Whether A is less than B: %d \n", a < b);
printf("Whether A is greater than B: %d \n", a > b);
printf("Whether A is less than equal to B: %d \n", a <= b);
printf("Whether A is greater than equal to B: %d \n", a >= b);
printf("Whether A is equal to B: %d \n", a == b);
printf("Whether A is not equal to B: %d \n", a != b);
}
We get the following output after compiling and executing the above code:
Value of A is 100 and B is 25 Whether A is less than B: 0 Whether A is greater than B: 1 Whether A is less than equal to B: 0 Whether A is greater than equal to B: 1 Whether A is equal to B: 0 Whether A is not equal to B: 1
If the condition is true then it provides the value 1. Otherwise, it returns with 0.
In conclusion, we have discussed relational operators in C.
Addtional Info –
To the compile the above program, we saved the file as – relational.c
And, then used the following in the terminal –
gcc -o relational relational.c
where, -o places the output of file relational.c to relational
Lastly, to execute the output file –
./relational
