C Less-Than Or Equal-To Operator (<=)

C Less-Than Or Equal-To Operator

In C, the Less-Than Or Equal-To <= operator is a comparison operator used to check whether the left-hand operand is less than or equal to the right-hand operand. If the condition is met, the operator returns 1 (true); otherwise, it returns 0 (false). This operator is commonly used in conditional statements like if and in loops to control iteration.

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Syntax of the Less-Than Or Equal-To Operator

The syntax to use the Less-Than Or Equal-To operator is:

variable1 <= variable2

Explanation:

1. variable1: The first operand to compare.
2. <=: The Less-Than Or Equal-To comparison operator.
3. variable2: The second operand to compare with the first operand.

The result of the comparison is 1 (true) if variable1 is less than or equal to variable2, otherwise 0 (false).

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Examples of the Less-Than Or Equal-To Operator

1. Using Less-Than Or Equal-To to Compare Two Integers

In this example, we will compare two integer values using the Less-Than Or Equal-To <= operator and print the result.

main.c

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a = 10, b = 15;

    if (a <= b) {
        printf("a is less than or equal to b.\n");
    } else {
        printf("a is greater than b.\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

Explanation:

1. We declare two integer variables a and b, initialized to 10 and 15.
2. The if condition checks if a <= b.
3. Since 10 <= 15 is true, the message “a is less than or equal to b.” is printed.

Output:

a is less than or equal to b.

2. Using Less-Than Or Equal-To in a Loop Condition

In this example, we will use the Less-Than Or Equal-To <= operator to control the number of iterations in a for loop.

main.c

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
        printf("Iteration %d\n", i);
    }

    return 0;
}

Explanation:

1. We use a for loop where the loop variable i starts from 1.
2. The loop condition i <= 5 ensures that the loop runs as long as i is less than or equal to 5.
3. On each iteration, i is printed and incremented by 1.
4. The loop terminates when i becomes greater than 5.

Output:

Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Iteration 4
Iteration 5

3. Using Less-Than Or Equal-To with Floating-Point Numbers

In this example, we will compare two floating-point numbers using the Less-Than Or Equal-To <= operator.

main.c

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    float num1 = 5.5, num2 = 5.5;

    if (num1 <= num2) {
        printf("num1 is less than or equal to num2.\n");
    } else {
        printf("num1 is greater than num2.\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

Explanation:

1. We declare two floating-point variables num1 and num2 both initialized to 5.5.
2. The if condition checks if num1 <= num2.
3. Since 5.5 <= 5.5 is true, “num1 is less than or equal to num2.” is printed.

Output:

num1 is less than or equal to num2.

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Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered the Less-Than Or Equal-To <= operator in C:

1. The <= operator checks if one value is less than or equal to another.
2. It returns 1 (true) if the condition is met, otherwise 0 (false).
3. It is commonly used in conditional statements and loop conditions.