The Python Not Equal Comparison Operator

Using Python not equal

Not equal in Python is one of the comparison operators. It can have one of two return values:

• True means one variable in Python does not equal the other
• False means both variables are the same in value

A = 5
B = 5
comparison = A!=B
print(comparison)

When comparing variables, you need to take both their values and their datatypes into consideration. In the example below, you can see two integers, both with the value of 5:

A = 5
B = 5

if ( A != B ):
   print("A is not equal to B")

Now in this next example, you can see two variables with a value of 5 again. However, this time, A is an integer, and B is a string. As a rule, one datatype in Python does not equal a different one:

A = 5
B = "5"

if ( A != B ):
   print("A is not equal to B")

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The syntax for not equal in Python

There are two ways to write the Python not equal comparison operator:

• !=
• <>

Most developers recommend sticking with != in Python, because both Python 2 and Python 3 support this syntax. <>, however, is deprecated in Python 3, and only works in older versions:

A != B #working
A <> B #deprecated

Python not equal: useful tips

• You can use the not equal Python operator for formatted strings (f-strings), introduced in Python 3.6.
• To return an opposite boolean value, use the equal operator ==.
• Keep in mind that some fonts change != to look like ≠ !