**Understanding Comparison Operators**
Comparison operators are used to check if one value is equal to another. In programming, these operators allow us to write conditions that evaluate to true or false. The most common comparison operators are: equals (=), not equal (!=), less than (<), greater than (>), less than or equal to (<=), and greater than or equal to (>=).
The equality operator (=) checks if two values are the same. For example, `5` is equal to `5` because they represent the same value. On the other hand, `5` does not equal `10` because they do not represent the same value.
In addition to equals, there is also a does not equal sign (!=). This operator checks if two values are not the same. So, `5` does not equal `10`, but `5` is indeed equal to itself.
The less than and greater than operators are used to check if one value is smaller or larger than another. For example, `5` is less than `10`, but it is not less than `3`. Similarly, `10` is greater than `5`, but it is not greater than `3`.
There is also a less than or equal to and greater than or equal to operator. These operators check if one value is either smaller or larger than another, or if they are the same. For example, `5` is both less than or equal to `10` and greater than or equal to itself.
**Using Conditions**
Conditions are used to evaluate a condition in code that returns true or false based on certain criteria. In programming, conditions are often used as part of conditional statements, which allow us to execute different blocks of code depending on the result of the condition.
For example, we can use a condition to check if someone worked more hours than 40. We might create a variable called `JohnnyHoursWork` and set it equal to 40, then write a condition that checks if `JohnnyHoursWork` is greater than 40. If this condition is true, we don't pay Johnny overtime. However, if the condition is false, we do pay him overtime.
Let's try an example with Python code:
```python
# Define the variable JohnnyHoursWork
JohnnyHoursWork = 41
# Write a condition to check if Johnny worked more hours than 40
if JohnnyHoursWork > 40:
# Pay Johnny overtime
print("Pay Johnny overtime")
else:
# Don't pay Johnny overtime
print("Don't pay Johnny overtime")
```
In this example, `JohnnyHoursWork` is equal to 41, which is greater than 40. Therefore, the condition in our Python code is true and we print "Pay Johnny overtime". If `JohnnyHoursWork` were equal to or less than 40, the condition would be false and we would print "Don't pay Johnny overtime".
**Boolean Operators**
In addition to comparison operators, there are also Boolean logical operators. These operators allow us to combine multiple conditions with AND and OR operations.
One of the main Boolean logical operators is AND. The AND operator checks if both conditions before it are true. For example, `5` is equal to `10`, but `5` is less than `7`. If we use the AND operator with these two conditions, we would get a false result because only one of the conditions is true.
Another Boolean logical operator is OR. The OR operator checks if at least one condition before it is true. For example, `5` is equal to `10`, but `5` is also greater than or equal to itself. If we use the OR operator with these two conditions, we would get a true result because at least one of the conditions is true.
Finally, there is also a NOT operator. The NOT operator checks if a condition before it is false. For example, `5` does not equal `10`, but `5` is equal to itself. If we use the NOT operator with this condition, we would get a false result because the condition is actually true.
Let's try an example with Python code:
```python
# Define the variables JohnnyHoursWork and hours_worked
JohnnyHoursWork = 41
hours_worked = 41
# Write conditions to check if Johnny worked more hours than 30 or less than 40
if (JohnnyHoursWork > 30) and (hours_worked >= 40):
# Pay Johnny overtime
print("Pay Johnny overtime")
else:
# Don't pay Johnny overtime
print("Don't pay Johnny overtime")
# Write conditions to check if Johnny worked more hours than 30 or less than 40
if (JohnnyHoursWork > 30) or (hours_worked < 40):
# Pay Johnny overtime
print("Pay Johnny overtime")
else:
# Don't pay Johnny overtime
print("Don't pay Johnny overtime")
# Write a condition to check if Johnny worked more hours than 30 but not less than 40
if (JohnnyHoursWork > 30) and (hours_worked >= 40):
# Pay Johnny overtime
print("Pay Johnny overtime")
else:
# Don't pay Johnny overtime
print("Don't pay Johnny overtime")
# Write a condition to check if Johnny worked more hours than 30 or less than 40
if not (JohnnyHoursWork <= 30) and not (hours_worked > 40):
# Pay Johnny overtime
print("Pay Johnny overtime")
else:
# Don't pay Johnny overtime
print("Don't pay Johnny overtime")
```
In this example, we use the AND operator to combine two conditions that check if `JohnnyHoursWork` is greater than 30 and `hours_worked` is greater than or equal to 40. We also use the OR operator to combine two conditions that check if `JohnnyHoursWork` is greater than 30 or `hours_worked` is less than 40.
Finally, we use the NOT operator to negate a condition that checks if `JohnnyHoursWork` is greater than or equal to 31 and `hours_worked` is greater than 40.