all Python 3operatorfunction
operator.lt
comparison
Return a < b — the functional form of the "less than" operator.
Syntax
operator.lt(a, b)
With functools.partial the argument order flips the meaning: partial(operator.lt, 0) is x → 0 < x, i.e. "greater than zero", not "less". Comparing unorderable types raises TypeError: lt(1, 'a') yields neither True nor False. You do not need lt for sorting — sorted compares by itself, and order is set with key and reverse.
Examples
import operator
print(operator.lt(1, 2)) # → True
print(operator.lt(2, 2)) # → False
print(operator.lt((1, 2), (1, 3))) # → True
nums = [4, 1, 7]
print([n for n in nums if operator.lt(n, 5)]) # → [4, 1]
print(operator.lt(None, 1)) # → TypeError
See also
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