Swiftly

Swift 5.7 references for busy coders

Comparison operators (==, !=, >, <, >=, <=)

Comparison operators return a Bool to indicate whether or not a given statement is true. They are used heavily in if statements.

Equal to ==

print(5 + 5 == 10) // true
print(1 + 1 == 11) // false

Not equal to !=

print(5 + 5 != 10) // false
print(1 + 1 != 11) // true

Greater than >

print(5 > 10) // false
print(10 > 2) // true

Less than <

print(5 < 10) // true
print(10 < 2) // false

Greater than or equal to >=

print(10 >= 10) // true
print(15 >= 16) // false
print(18 >= 12) // true

Less than or equal to <=

print(10 <= 10) // true
print(15 <= 16) // true
print(18 <= 12) // false

Comparing equality of two struct instances

The == and != may also be used to check to see if two struct instances have the same values. For this, the struct must conform to Equatable.

struct Player: Equatable {
  var name: String
  var score: Int
}

let player1 = Player(name: "Tomoko", score: 100)
let player2 = Player(name: "Tomoko", score: 100)
let player3 = Player(name: "Isabella", score: 350)
let player4 = player1

print(player1 == player2) // true
print(player1 == player3) // false
print(player1 == player4) // true

print(player1 != player2) // false
print(player1 != player3) // true
print(player1 != player4) // false

Comparing equality of two class instances

The == and != may also be used to check to see if two class instances have the same values. For this, the class must also conform to Equatable, which involves more work than if it was a struct.

class Player: Equatable {
  var name: String
  var score: Int

  init(name: String, score: Int) {
    self.name = name
    self.score = score
  }

  static func == (lhs: Player, rhs: Player) -> Bool {
    return lhs.name == rhs.name && lhs.score == rhs.score
  }
}

let player1 = Player(name: "Tomoko", score: 100)
let player2 = Player(name: "Tomoko", score: 100)
let player3 = Player(name: "Isabella", score: 350)
let player4 = player1

print(player1 == player2) // true
print(player1 == player3) // false
print(player1 == player4) // true

print(player1 != player2) // false
print(player1 != player3) // true
print(player1 != player4) // false

Note: While == and != compare class instance equality, === and !== compare identity, which is a similar, but different concept.

Further reading