Why won't less-than operator work between these two strings?

Question

Here's my code, super new to python. Struggling to understand why if I use < it always thinks is less than even though it will print a higher number. If I use greater than it works just fine. What am I missing? Here's my code, super new to python. Struggling to understand why if I use < it always thinks is less than even though it will print a higher number. If I use greater than it works just fine. What am I missing?

import time
t=time.localtime()
msttime=time.strftime("%H",t)
if(msttime < '2'):
    print(msttime)
else:
    print("This calculation believes msttime is greater than 2")

With strings, lt and gt are calculated in alphabetical order not numeric. `'2' > '1000'` because `2` comes after `1000` in the dictionary. — Mark, May 15 '20 at 01:04
See Wikipedia article [Lexicographical order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicographical_order) which is how Python compares strings. — martineau, May 15 '20 at 01:08

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 15 '20 at 01:05

1

This code will give you the expected result:

import time

t = time.localtime()
msttime = time.strftime("%H", t)

if (int(msttime) < 2):
    print(msttime)
else:
    print("This calculation believes msttime is greater than 2")

The reason is that "18" < "2" lexographically, but 18 > 2 numerically. This is because the lexographical comparison has no regard for the second digit. Since 1 is before 2, the comparison ends there. In the numerical comparison, all digits are accounted for.

answered May 15 '20 at 01:05

Mario Ishac

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very cool. thank you so much. makes perfect sense. – will.ditch May 15 '20 at 01:14
@will.ditch No problem, consider accepting the answer by pressing the checkmark. Gives both you and I reputation. – Mario Ishac May 15 '20 at 01:59

Why won't less-than operator work between these two strings?

1 Answers1