String Comparisons

Use eq to Compare Two Strings for Equality

$a = 'fred' eq 'fred'; # TRUE $a = 'fred and lucy' eq 'fred' . ' and ' . 'lucy'; # TRUE $a = 'fred' eq $b; # depends on what $b is

Do not confuse == with eq

== is for numeric comparison.

eq is for string comparison.

$a = 'fred' == 'lucy'; # WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Use ne to Compare Two Strings for Non-Equality

$a = 'fred' ne 'fred'; # FALSE $a = 'fred' ne 'lucy'; # TRUE $a = 'fred' eq $b; # depends on what $b is

Use gt, lt, ge, ne for "Greater than", "Less than", "Greater or Equal" etc.

String comparison is in ASCII alphabetic order.

$a = 'fred' gt 'lucy'; # FALSE $a = 'fred' lt 'lucy'; # TRUE $a = 'Lucy' lt 'lucy'; # TRUE $a = 'Lucy' lt 'fred'; # TRUE !!

In ASCII alphabetic order, the set of capital letters is less than the set of lowercase letters.

Use cmp to Compare Two Strings

$result = $a cmp $b

$result is

• -1 if the left side is less than the right side
• 0 if the left side equals the right side
• +1 if the left side is greater than the right side

Previous

Contents

Next