How do I use comparison symbols with input in python

Question

I'm trying to make a program that will respond to someones age but I can't figure out how to use the comparison symbols. Here is the code I'm trying to run,

age = input('How old are you? \n >>')
if (age < 20):
    print('Hey you are pretty young.')
if (age > 20):
    print('wow you are pretty old')

But when I try to run this I get this Error,

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:/Users/Daniel/Desktop/Computer science/week 6/age.py", line 2, in <module>
    if (age < 20):
TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'str' and 'int'

`age` is a `str`, you cannot compare `str` objects with `int` objects... — juanpa.arrivillaga, Feb 19 '20 at 22:41
Does this answer your question? [How can I read inputs as numbers?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20449427/how-can-i-read-inputs-as-numbers) — B. Go, Feb 19 '20 at 23:27
I have already accepted an answer. And it's not really the same @B. Go — Isaiah Guillory, Feb 20 '20 at 02:15

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 19 '20 at 22:41

3

What you get as input is a string, you need to cast it to an int before you can compare it:

age = int(input('How old are you? \n >>'))

Better yet, add some error handling, e.g.:

try:
    age = int(input('How old are you? \n >>'))

except ValueError as ex:
    print("Not a valid age.")

answered Feb 19 '20 at 22:41

Jan

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Thanks Jan! I needed that. – Isaiah Guillory Feb 19 '20 at 22:47
1

@jamylak age = float(input("Enter any number: ")) – B. Go Feb 20 '20 at 17:02
@B.Go: I am pretty sure that with nearly 100k jamylak was just making a joke here. – Jan Feb 20 '20 at 17:48

How do I use comparison symbols with input in python

1 Answers1