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

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to check if variable $a equals 10.

PowerShell

if ($a [1] 10) { Write-Output 'Equal' }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-gt

B-ne

C-eq

D-lt

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using -ne instead of -eq causes the condition to be true when values are not equal.

The -eq operator checks if two values are equal.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to check if $b is not equal to 5.

PowerShell

if ($b [1] 5) { Write-Output 'Not equal' }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-eq

B-lt

C-gt

D-ne

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using -eq instead of -ne will give the opposite result.

The -ne operator checks if two values are not equal.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to check if $num is greater than 100.

PowerShell

if ($num [1] 100) { Write-Output 'Greater' }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-gt

B-ne

C-eq

D-lt

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using -lt will check for less than, which is the opposite.

The -gt operator means 'greater than'.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to check if $x is less than 50 and not equal to 20.

PowerShell

if (($x [1] 50) -and ($x [2] 20)) { Write-Output 'Valid' }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-lt

B-eq

C-ne

D-gt

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Mixing up -eq and -ne operators.

Use -lt for 'less than' and -ne for 'not equal'.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a dictionary with keys as $word uppercase, values as $count, filtering counts greater than 10.

PowerShell

$result = @{ [1] = [2] } | Where-Object { $_.Value [3] 10 }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A$word.ToUpper()

B$count

C-gt

D-lt

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using -lt instead of -gt will filter wrong values.

Use $word.ToUpper() as key, $count as value, and -gt to filter counts greater than 10.

Practice

1. Which PowerShell operator checks if two values are equal?

easy

A. -eq

B. -ne

C. -gt

D. -lt

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the meaning of each operator

   -eq means equals, -ne means not equals, -gt means greater than, -lt means less than.

2. Step 2: Identify the operator for equality

   The operator that checks if two values are equal is -eq.

3. Final Answer:

   -eq -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Equals operator = -eq [OK]

Hint: Remember: eq means equal, ne means not equal [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing -eq with -ne
• Mixing -gt and -lt
• Using == instead of -eq

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to check if variable $a is greater than 10 in PowerShell?

easy

A. if ($a -gt 10) { }

B. if ($a > 10) { }

C. if ($a -lt 10) { }

D. if ($a -eq 10) { }

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall PowerShell comparison syntax

   PowerShell uses -gt for greater than, not > like some other languages.

2. Step 2: Match the correct operator

   The correct syntax to check if $a is greater than 10 is if ($a -gt 10) { }.

3. Final Answer:

   if ($a -gt 10) { } -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Greater than operator = -gt [OK]

Hint: Use -gt for greater than, not > in PowerShell [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using > instead of -gt
• Confusing -lt with -gt
• Missing parentheses in if statement

3. What will be the output of this PowerShell code?

$x = 5
if ($x -ne 5) { 'No' } else { 'Yes' }

medium

A. 5

B. No

C. Yes

D. False

Solution

1. Step 1: Evaluate the condition $x -ne 5

   $x is 5, so $x -ne 5 means 5 not equal to 5, which is False.

2. Step 2: Determine which block runs

   Since condition is False, the else block runs, outputting 'Yes'.

3. Final Answer:

   Yes -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   5 not equal 5 is False, so else runs [OK]

Hint: -ne means not equal; false triggers else block [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking -ne means equal
• Confusing output with variable value
• Ignoring else block

4. Identify the error in this PowerShell snippet:

$num = 10
if ($num -gt 5) { 'Greater' } elseif ($num -lt 5) { 'Smaller' } else { 'Equal' }

medium

A. Missing closing brace for if block

B. No error, code runs correctly

C. Incorrect use of elseif instead of else if

D. Using -gt instead of > operator

Solution

1. Step 1: Check syntax of if-elseif-else

   PowerShell supports elseif as one word; braces are balanced.

2. Step 2: Verify operators and structure

   -gt and -lt are correct operators; no syntax errors present.

3. Final Answer:

   No error, code runs correctly -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   elseif is valid in PowerShell [OK]

Hint: PowerShell uses elseif as one word, not else if [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking elseif is invalid
• Expecting > instead of -gt
• Missing braces confusion

5. You want to write a PowerShell script that prints 'Valid' only if a variable $score is greater than or equal to 70. Which code snippet correctly uses comparison operators to achieve this?

hard

A. if ($score -gt 70) { 'Valid' } else { 'Invalid' }

B. if ($score -lt 70) { 'Valid' } else { 'Invalid' }

C. if ($score -eq 70) { 'Valid' } else { 'Invalid' }

D. if ($score -ge 70) { 'Valid' } else { 'Invalid' }

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the requirement

   We want to check if $score is greater than or equal to 70.

2. Step 2: Identify the correct operator

   -ge means greater than or equal to, which matches the requirement.

3. Final Answer:

   if ($score -ge 70) { 'Valid' } else { 'Invalid' } -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Greater or equal operator = -ge [OK]

Hint: Use -ge for greater or equal comparisons [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using -gt excludes 70
• Using -eq only matches exactly 70
• Using -lt reverses logic