Comparison operators are used to compare values, test conditions, or filter elements of a collection, such as an array. They return a Boolean value, True or False, as a result.

Equality Operators

Some of the comparison operators in PowerShell are called equality operators. They are binary operators that compare two integer or string values that return True if the operator condition is met; otherwise, False.

Let’s take a look at a few examples.

-eq and -ne

In the example below, -eq returns True because $my_num matches the value 5. When we use the ne operator on the same operands, it returns False since it only returns True when the two values are NOT a match.

PS > $my_num = 5
PS > $my_num -eq 5
True

PS > $my_num -ne 5
False

The -eq and -ne also work on strings, as shown below.

PS > "tomato" -ne "vegetable"
True

-gt and -lt

The first expression in the example below returns True since 7 is greater than 2. 42 is not less than 42, so the second expression returns False.

PS > 7 -gt 2
True

PS > 42 -lt 42
False

-ge and -le

In the example below, 3 is not greater than or equal to 6, so False is returned, and 42 is less than or equal to 42, so True is returned.

PS > 3 -ge 6
False

PS > 42 -le 42
True