What < means
It means the left value is smaller than the right. The less-than operator makes a strict comparison: equal values do not qualify. Read 2 < 5 as “two is less than five.”
How does < work in code?
Its job depends on the language and surrounding characters. In many programming languages, score < limit tests whether the score is below the limit; <= also allows equality.
In a shell, the program that runs typed commands, < notes.txt tells a command to read its input from that file. In HTML, the language used to structure web pages, < begins tags.
What does <3 mean?
It is a sideways heart expressing affection. In personal or celebratory texts it adds love, thanks, or approval. Extra threes, as in <333, turn up the affection.
Technical in code; warm and informal before 3 in a personal message.
Read `<3` as a heart unless the surrounding text is mathematical.
What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsDon't confuse it with
2Combination ideas
3Worth knowing
- The English mathematician Thomas Harriot is credited with introducing < and > as comparison signs in his algebra book, published in 1631 after his death.
Questions people ask
1Why does < disappear in HTML?
HTML can treat it as markup. When writing HTML source, use `<` to display a literal `<` in the page's text.
How to type <
<\003CCodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.