STRING1 < STRING2 (conditional operator)

true if string1 sorts before string2 lexicographically.

< is not included in POSIX. Avoid it if you want to stay compatible with POSIX shells.

Integers are compared with -lt.

Bash

This operator uses the current locale for sorting within a [[ ... ]] construct.

Links

• Bash manual
• Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

Examples

Different ways to test if a string is sorted before another one:

1 2 3 4

test "$input" < " " && echo "special char" [ "$input" < " " ] && echo "special char" # Bash [[ "$input" < " " ]] && echo "special char"