It means not equal to. It was taken from ABC
(python’s predecessor) see here:
x < y, x <= y, x >= y, x > y, x = y, x <> y, 0 <= d < 10
Order tests (
<>
means ‘not equals’)
I believe ABC
took it from Pascal, a language Guido began programming with.
It has now been removed in Python 3. Use !=
instead. If you are CRAZY you can scrap !=
and allow only <>
in Py3K using this easter egg:
>>> from __future__ import barry_as_FLUFL
>>> 1 != 2
File "<stdin>", line 1
1 != 2
^
SyntaxError: with Barry as BDFL, use '<>' instead of '!='
>>> 1 <> 2
True