We have the operators `<`, `<=` `>=` and `>` which...

# language-evolution

[Klitos Kyriacou]

We have the operators <, <= >= and > which all call compareTo but they all check for inequalities. Would there be any interest in a special operator, <==>, with the semantics that a <==> b is equivalent to a.compareTo(b) == 0? Let's call it the "extended spaceship operator" since the normal spaceship operator <=> is already well-known in other languages and has different semantics (it returns an integer). The use case is when comparing BigDecimals for value equality (where a == b is not what is wanted because it includes scale).

[Sam]

It would also be relevant for some floating point edge cases. But even then, I suspect the use cases are few enough that a dedicated operator would be very rarely used, and I think a rarely-used operator is likely to be less clear than just writing out compareTo in full.