JavaScript Greater Than

leftOperand > rightOperand

1. Primitive Conversion (ToPrimitive): Both operands are converted to primitive values. If an operand is an object, JavaScript attempts to convert it by calling its valueOf() and toString() methods, prioritizing numeric conversion.
2. String Comparison: If both resulting primitives are strings, they are compared lexicographically based on their UTF-16 code unit values.
3. Numeric Conversion (ToNumeric): If at least one of the primitives is not a string, both operands are coerced into numeric values (either Number or BigInt).
4. NaN Evaluation: If either operand coerces to NaN (Not-a-Number), the operator strictly returns false.
5. Zero Evaluation: JavaScript treats +0 and -0 as mathematically equal; neither is greater than the other.

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Mechanical Examples

5 > 3;       // true
-1 > 0;      // false
10n > 9;     // true (BigInt and Number can be compared safely)

"b" > "a";   // true (98 > 97)
"Z" > "a";   // false (90 > 97 - uppercase letters have lower code units)
"10" > "2";  // false (Compares "1" and "2", 49 > 50 is false)

"5" > 3;     // true  (String "5" coerces to Number 5)
true > false;// true  (Boolean true coerces to 1, false to 0)
null > -1;   // true  (null coerces to 0)

[5] > 4;     // true  (Array [5] coerces to String "5", then Number 5)
["a"] > 0;   // false (Array ["a"] coerces to "a", then NaN. NaN > 0 is false)

NaN > 5;     // false
5 > NaN;     // false
NaN > NaN;   // false
undefined > 0; // false (undefined coerces to NaN)