what does <> mean in Python

What is the meaning of <> in Python?

I have tried searching for it on Google but I cannot seem to get inside the search term...

I have not seen this in any other language also otherwise开发者_如何学JAVA I would have tried to find it.

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<> is an alternate spelling of !=, the inequality test operator. IIRC, it has been removed in Python3.

>>> "foo" <> "bar"
True
>>> "foo" <> "foo"
False

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It is an obsolete inequality operator. See the Python documentation.

!= can also be written <>, but this is an obsolete usage kept for backwards compatibility only. New code should always use !=.

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<> means not equal to. <> and != have the same meanings.

From the docs:

The forms <> and != are equivalent; for consistency with C, != is preferred; where != is mentioned below <> is also accepted. The <> spelling is considered obsolescent.

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It is the same as != ("not equal")

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the <> operator is the same as != which means not equal to

if thing1 <> thing2:
   code here