Comparison operators in Ruby - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Comparison operators

Start

↓

Evaluate Left Value

↓

Evaluate Right Value

↓

Apply Comparison Operator

↓

Result: true or false

↓

Use Result in Condition or Output

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End

The program compares two values using a comparison operator and produces true or false as the result.

Execution Sample

Ruby

a = 5
b = 3
result = a > b
puts result

This code compares if a is greater than b and prints the result.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Evaluation	Result
1	Assign a = 5	a = 5	5
2	Assign b = 3	b = 3	3
3	Compare a > b	5 > 3	true
4	Assign result = true	result = true	true
5	Print result	puts result	true

💡 Program ends after printing the comparison result.

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 3	After Step 4	Final
a	nil	5	5	5	5	5
b	nil	nil	3	3	3	3
result	nil	nil	nil	nil	true	true

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does the comparison a > b return true instead of a number?

Because comparison operators in Ruby return a boolean value (true or false), not a numeric result. See step 3 in the execution_table where 5 > 3 evaluates to true.

What happens if we compare two equal values with == operator?

The comparison returns true if both values are equal, otherwise false. This is similar to step 3 but with == instead of >.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, what is the value of 'result' after step 4?

A 5

B true

C false

D nil

💡 Hint

Check the 'result' variable value in variable_tracker after step 4.

At which step does the comparison a > b happen?

A Step 3

B Step 2

C Step 4

D Step 5

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Action' column in execution_table for the comparison operation.

If we change b to 7, what would be the result of a > b at step 3?

A true

B nil

C false

D error

💡 Hint

Compare 5 > 7 logically to determine the boolean result.

Concept Snapshot

Comparison operators compare two values and return true or false.
Common operators: ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=.
Used in conditions and expressions.
Example: a > b returns true if a is greater than b.
They do not return numbers, only boolean values.

Full Transcript

This visual execution trace shows how comparison operators work in Ruby. We start by assigning values to variables a and b. Then we compare a > b, which evaluates to true or false. This boolean result is stored in the variable result and printed. The trace shows each step, variable changes, and the final output. Comparison operators always return true or false, not numbers. This helps in making decisions in code.