Editing Relational operator (section)

{{Short description|Programming language construct}}
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In [[computer science]], a '''relational operator''' is a [[programming language]] construct or [[Operator (programming)|operator]] that tests or defines some kind of [[relation (mathematics)|relation]] between [[Binary function|two entities]]. These include numerical [[equality (mathematics)|equality]] (e.g., {{nowrap|5 {{=}} 5}}) and [[inequality (mathematics)|inequalities]] (e.g., {{nowrap|4 ≥ 3}}).

In programming languages that include a distinct [[boolean data type]] in their [[type system]], like [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], [[Ada (programming language)|Ada]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]] or [[Java (programming language)|Java]], these operators usually evaluate to true or false, depending on if the conditional relationship between the two [[operand]]s holds or not.

In languages such as [[C (programming language)|C]], relational operators return the [[integer]]s 0 or 1, where 0 stands for false and any non-zero value stands for true.

An [[expression (programming)|expression]] created using a relational operator forms what is termed a ''relational expression'' or a ''condition''. Relational operators can be seen as special cases of logical [[predicate (mathematical logic)|predicates]].