String Comparisons

We can also compare text (known as strings):

>>> "a" > "b"
False
>>> 'a' == "a"
True
>>> "a" < "b"
True
>>> "a" < "A"
False
>>> "z" < "Z"
False
>>> "this" > "th" # having "something more" means you are > ('i' is compared to '')
True
>>> "this" > "tho" # the first difference determines the result ('i' is compared to 'o')
False

Note

Why is “a” > “A”?

Your computer represents the two characters with different numbers internally. Those numbers happen to be arranged such that “a” (97) is greater than “A” (65). You can see the code-point for a character with the function ord.

>>> ord('a')
97
>>> ord('A')
65

Do the Quotes Matter?

In Python the type of quote characters you use doesn’t matter, it’s just whatever is convenient for you. In other languages the single quote ‘ is often used for single-characters, while the double quote “ is used for multiple character strings.