Comparison operators (-eq, -ne, -gt, -lt) in PowerShell

Introduction

Comparison operators help you check if values are equal, different, or if one is bigger or smaller than another. This is useful to make decisions in scripts.

Check if a user input matches a password.

Compare numbers to see if a score is higher than a target.

Find out if two strings are the same.

Decide if a file size is larger than a limit.

Run different commands based on a condition.

Syntax

PowerShell

value1 -eq value2  # equals
value1 -ne value2  # not equals
value1 -gt value2  # greater than
value1 -lt value2  # less than

Use -eq to test if two values are equal.

Use -ne to test if two values are not equal.

Examples

This checks if 5 is equal to 5. It returns $True.

PowerShell

5 -eq 5

This checks if the word "apple" is not equal to "orange". It returns $True.

PowerShell

"apple" -ne "orange"

This checks if 10 is greater than 7. It returns $True.

PowerShell

10 -gt 7

This checks if 3 is less than 2. It returns $False.

PowerShell

3 -lt 2

Sample Program

This script prints the result of four comparisons using the operators. It shows $True or $False for each.

PowerShell

Write-Output (5 -eq 5)
Write-Output (10 -ne 10)
Write-Output (7 -gt 3)
Write-Output (2 -lt 4)

Important Notes

Comparison operators return $True or $False, which are Boolean values.

Strings are compared by their text content, not by case sensitivity unless specified.

Use parentheses to make sure comparisons are evaluated correctly in complex expressions.

Summary

Comparison operators help you compare values easily in PowerShell.

Use -eq, -ne, -gt, and -lt for equals, not equals, greater than, and less than.

They return $True or $False to help your script decide what to do next.