Bicep comparison operators

The comparison operators compare values and return either true or false. To run the examples, use Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell to deploy a Bicep file.

Operator Name
>= Greater than or equal
> Greater than
<= Less than or equal
< Less than
== Equals
!= Not equal
=~ Equal case-insensitive
!~ Not equal case-insensitive

Greater than or equal >=

operand1 >= operand2

Evaluates if the first value is greater than or equal to the second value.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 integer, string First value in the comparison.
operand2 integer, string Second value in the comparison.

Return value

If the first value is greater than or equal to the second value, true is returned. Otherwise, false is returned.

Example

A pair of integers and pair of strings are compared.

param firstInt int = 10
param secondInt int = 5

param firstString string = 'A'
param secondString string = 'A'

output intGtE bool = firstInt >= secondInt
output stringGtE bool = firstString >= secondString

Output from the example:

Name Type Value
intGtE boolean true
stringGtE boolean true

Greater than >

operand1 > operand2

Evaluates if the first value is greater than the second value.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 integer, string First value in the comparison.
operand2 integer, string Second value in the comparison.

Return value

If the first value is greater than the second value, true is returned. Otherwise, false is returned.

Example

A pair of integers and pair of strings are compared.

param firstInt int = 10
param secondInt int = 5

param firstString string = 'bend'
param secondString string = 'band'

output intGt bool = firstInt > secondInt
output stringGt bool = firstString > secondString

Output from the example:

The e in bend makes the first string greater.

Name Type Value
intGt boolean true
stringGt boolean true

Less than or equal <=

operand1 <= operand2

Evaluates if the first value is less than or equal to the second value.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 integer, string First value in the comparison.
operand2 integer, string Second value in the comparison.

Return value

If the first value is less than or equal to the second value, true is returned. Otherwise, false is returned.

Example

A pair of integers and pair of strings are compared.

param firstInt int = 5
param secondInt int = 10

param firstString string = 'demo'
param secondString string = 'demo'

output intLtE bool = firstInt <= secondInt
output stringLtE bool = firstString <= secondString

Output from the example:

Name Type Value
intLtE boolean true
stringLtE boolean true

Less than <

operand1 < operand2

Evaluates if the first value is less than the second value.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 integer, string First value in the comparison.
operand2 integer, string Second value in the comparison.

Return value

If the first value is less than the second value, true is returned. Otherwise, false is returned.

Example

A pair of integers and pair of strings are compared.

param firstInt int = 5
param secondInt int = 10

param firstString string = 'demo'
param secondString string = 'Demo'

output intLt bool = firstInt < secondInt
output stringLt bool = firstString < secondString

Output from the example:

The string is true because lowercase letters are less than uppercase letters.

Name Type Value
intLt boolean true
stringLt boolean true

Equals ==

operand1 == operand2

Evaluates if the values are equal. The comparison is case-sensitive.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 string, integer, boolean, array, object First value in the comparison.
operand2 string, integer, boolean, array, object Second value in the comparison.

Return value

If the operands are equal, true is returned. If the operands are different, false is returned.

Example

Pairs of integers, strings, and booleans are compared.

param firstInt int = 5
param secondInt int = 5

param firstString string = 'demo'
param secondString string = 'Demo'

param firstBool bool = true
param secondBool bool = true

output intEqual bool = firstInt == secondInt
output stringEqual bool = firstString == secondString
output boolEqual bool = firstBool == secondBool

Output from the example:

Name Type Value Note
intEqual boolean true
stringEqual boolean false The result is false because the comparison is case-sensitive.
boolEqual boolean true

When comparing arrays, the two arrays must have the same elements and order. The arrays don't need to be assigned to each other.

var array1 = [
  1
  2
  3
]

var array2 = [
  1
  2
  3
]

var array3 = array2

var array4 = [
  3
  2
  1
]

output sameElements bool = array1 == array2 // returns true because arrays are defined with same elements
output assignArray bool = array2 == array3 // returns true because one array was defined as equal to the other array
output differentOrder bool = array4 == array1 // returns false because order of elements is different

Output from the example:

Name Type Value
sameElements bool true
assignArray bool true
differentOrder bool false

When comparing objects, the property names and values must be the same. The properties don't need to be defined in the same order.

var object1 = {
  prop1: 'val1'
  prop2: 'val2'
}

var object2 = {
  prop1: 'val1'
  prop2: 'val2'
}

var object3 = {
  prop2: 'val2'
  prop1: 'val1'
}

var object4 = object3

var object5 = {
  prop1: 'valX'
  prop2: 'valY'
}

output sameObjects bool = object1 == object2 // returns true because both objects defined with same properties
output differentPropertyOrder bool = object3 == object2 // returns true because both objects have same properties even though order is different
output assignObject bool = object4 == object1 // returns true because one object was defined as equal to the other object
output differentValues bool = object5 == object1 // returns false because values are different

Output from the example:

Name Type Value
sameObjects bool true
differentPropertyOrder bool true
assignObject bool true
differentValues bool false

Not equal !=

operand1 != operand2

Evaluates if two values are not equal.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 string, integer, boolean, array, object First value in the comparison.
operand2 string, integer, boolean, array, object Second value in the comparison.

Return value

If the operands are not equal, true is returned. If the operands are equal, false is returned.

Example

Pairs of integers, strings, and booleans are compared.

param firstInt int = 10
param secondInt int = 5

param firstString string = 'demo'
param secondString string = 'test'

param firstBool bool = false
param secondBool bool = true

output intNotEqual bool = firstInt != secondInt
output stringNotEqual bool = firstString != secondString
output boolNotEqual bool = firstBool != secondBool

Output from the example:

Name Type Value
intNotEqual boolean true
stringNotEqual boolean true
boolNotEqual boolean true

For arrays and objects, see examples in equals.

Equal case-insensitive =~

operand1 =~ operand2

Ignores case to determine if the two values are equal.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 string First string in the comparison.
operand2 string Second string in the comparison.

Return value

If the strings are equal, true is returned. Otherwise, false is returned.

Example

Compares strings that use mixed-case letters.

param firstString string = 'demo'
param secondString string = 'DEMO'

param thirdString string = 'demo'
param fourthString string = 'TEST'

output strEqual1 bool = firstString =~ secondString
output strEqual2 bool = thirdString =~ fourthString

Output from the example:

Name Type Value
strEqual1 boolean true
strEqual2 boolean false

Not equal case-insensitive !~

operand1 !~ operand2

Ignores case to determine if the two values are not equal.

Operands

Operand Type Description
operand1 string First string in the comparison.
operand2 string Second string in the comparison.

Return value

If the strings are not equal, true is returned. Otherwise, false is returned.

Example

Compares strings that use mixed-case letters.

param firstString string = 'demo'
param secondString string = 'TEST'

param thirdString string = 'demo'
param fourthString string = 'DeMo'

output strNotEqual1 bool = firstString !~ secondString
output strEqual2 bool = thirdString !~ fourthString

Output from the example:

Name Type Value
strNotEqual1 boolean true
strNotEqual2 boolean false

Next steps