Greater Than or Equal To Operator (`>=`) in C++

The greater than or equal to operator in C++ is used to compare two values and check if the value on the left-hand side is greater than or equal to the one on the right-hand side.

It returns a Boolean result:

true if the left operand is greater than or equal to the right operand.
false otherwise.

Syntax

operand1 >= operand2

1. Integer Comparison

gte_int.cpp

int a = 10, b = 10;
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 1 (true)

gte_int_false.cpp

int a = 5, b = 10;
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 0 (false)

2. Float and Double Comparison

gte_float.cpp

float x = 7.5f, y = 6.0f;
std::cout << (x >= y);  // Output: 1 (true)

gte_double_equal.cpp

double a = 3.14159, b = 3.14159;
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 1 (true)

3. Character Comparison

Characters are compared using their ASCII values.

gte_char.cpp

char a = 'z', b = 'm';
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 1 (true)

gte_char_equal.cpp

char a = 'c', b = 'c';
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 1 (true)

4. Boolean Comparison

Boolean values are treated as integers: false = 0, true = 1.

gte_bool.cpp

bool a = true;
bool b = false;
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 1 (true)

gte_bool_equal.cpp

bool a = false, b = false;
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 1 (true)

5. String Comparison (`std::string`)

Lexicographical comparison is supported with std::string.

gte_string_true.cpp

std::string name1 = "zebra";
std::string name2 = "apple";
std::cout << (name1 >= name2);  // Output: 1 (true)

gte_string_equal.cpp

std::string name1 = "code";
std::string name2 = "code";
std::cout << (name1 >= name2);  // Output: 1 (true)

6. C-style Strings (`char[]`)

Use strcmp() to compare C-style strings.

gte_cstring.cpp

#include <cstring>
char a[] = "delta";
char b[] = "alpha";
std::cout << (strcmp(a, b) >= 0);  // Output: 1 (true)

7. Greater Than or Equal in `if` Statement

gte_if.cpp

int marks = 90;
if (marks >= 50) {
    std::cout << "Pass";
}

8. Greater Than or Equal in Loops

gte_loop.cpp

int i = 10;
while (i >= 1) {
    std::cout << i << " ";
    i--;
}

Output: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

9. Mixed Type Comparisons

gte_mixed.cpp

int a = 5;
float b = 5.0f;
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 1 (true)

gte_mixed_false.cpp

double a = 3.2;
int b = 5;
std::cout << (a >= b);  // Output: 0 (false)

10. Practice Programs

Practice 1: Compare Student Marks

practice_gte_marks.cpp

int marks = 75;
if (marks >= 60) {
    std::cout << "First Class";
}

Practice 2: Compare Characters

practice_gte_char.cpp

char grade1 = 'B';
char grade2 = 'C';
if (grade1 >= grade2) {
    std::cout << "Grade1 is higher or equal.";
}

Practice 3: String Rank Check

practice_gte_string.cpp

std::string word1 = "quiz";
std::string word2 = "math";
if (word1 >= word2) {
    std::cout << word1 << " comes after or is same as " << word2;
}

Summary Table

Data Type	Example	Result
`int`	`5 >= 3`	`true`
`float`	`5.0f >= 5.0f`	`true`
`double`	`2.5 >= 3.0`	`false`
`char`	`'z' >= 'a'`	`true`
`bool`	`true >= false`	`true`
`std::string`	`"zebra" >= "apple"`	`true`
`char[]`	`strcmp("beta", "alpha") >= 0`	`true`

Notes and Best Practices

Always ensure that the types being compared are compatible.
For std::string, use the >= operator.
For C-style strings, always use strcmp() for accurate comparison.
In mixed-type expressions (e.g., int with float), C++ applies implicit type promotion.

Less than Less than or Equal

Greater Than or Equal To Operator (>=) in C++