Relational operators compare two things (usually numbers) and always evaluate to a Boolean result. These operators are used to answer questions such as is 10 less than 20? Relational operators test for equality, inequality, and which of two arguments is less than or greater than the other.

The equality operator (==) checks whether the values of the two operands are equal or not. If they are equal, the operator evaluates to true, otherwise it evaluates to false. Here are examples:

x = 2 == 2 -- true
y = 2 == 3 -- false
z = "nine" == 9 -- false

The inequality operator (~=) checks whether the values of the two operands are equal or not. If they are NOT equal, the operator evaluates to true, otherwise it evaluates to false. Here is an example:

x = 2 ~= 2 -- false
y = 2 ~= 3 -- true
z = "nine" ~= 9 -- true

The greater than operator (>) checks whether the first operand is greater than the second operand. If it is, the operator evaluates to true, otherwise to false. Here is an example:

x = 4 > 5 -- false
y = 4 > 4 -- false
z = 4 > 3 -- true

The greater than or equal to operator (>=) checks whether the first operand is greater than or equal to the second operand. If it is, the operator evaluates to true, otherwise to false. Here is an example:

x = 4 >= 5 -- false
y = 4 >= 4 -- true
z = 4 >= 3 -- true

The less than operator (<) checks whether the first operand is less than the second operand. If it is, the operation evaluates to true, otherwise to false. Here is an example:

x = 3 < 2 -- false
y = 3 < 3 -- false
z = 3 < 4 -- true

The less than or equal to operator (<=) checks whether the first operand is less than or equal to the second operand. If it is, the operation evaluates to true, otherwise to false. Here is an example:

x = 3 <= 2 -- false
y = 3 <= 3 -- true
z = 3 <= 4 -- true