--- slug: /en/sql-reference/functions/comparison-functions sidebar_position: 36 sidebar_label: Comparison --- # Comparison Functions Comparison functions always return 0 or 1 (Uint8). The following types can be compared: - numbers - strings and fixed strings - dates - dates with times within each group, but not between different groups. For example, you can’t compare a date with a string. You have to use a function to convert the string to a date, or vice versa. Strings are compared by bytes. A shorter string is smaller than all strings that start with it and that contain at least one more character. ### equals, a `=` b and a `==` b operator ### notEquals, a `!=` b and a `<>` b operator ### less, `<` operator ### greater, `>` operator ### lessOrEquals, `<=` operator ### greaterOrEquals, `>=` operator