Eng:() is less than () (block)

The  <  block is an Operators block and a Boolean block. The block checks if the first value is less than the second value. If it is less, the block returns true; if not, it returns false.

This block works with letters too, as well as numbers. In Scratch, letters at the top of the alphabet (e.g. a, b, c) are worth less than letters at the end (e.g. x, y, z). In Scratch 1.3 and previous versions, it only accepted numbers.

Example Uses
Some common uses for the <  block are below: set [i v] to [1] //start at the front repeat (length of [numbers v]) set [i2 v] to [1] repeat until <<(item (i) of [numbers v]) < (item (i2) of [numbers v])> or <(i2) > (length of [numbers v]) change [i2 v] by (1) end insert (item (i) of [numbers v]) at ((i2) + (1)) of [numbers v] if <(i2) < ((i) + (1))> then delete ((i) + (1)) of [numbers v] else delete (i) of [numbers v] end change [i v] by (1) end
 * If a group must be arranged in size, this block can easily do the job by iterating through a list and checking if each value is less than the rest until placement is detected. For example, if a list is supposed to be sorted from greatest to least, the following script can accomplish this:

if <<(score) < (item (1 v) of [Top Scores v])> and <(score) > (item (2 v) of [Top Scores v])>> then insert (score) at (2 v) of [list v] end
 * Arranging a set of numbers/letters

set [i v] to [1] delete [all v] of [evaluation v] repeat (length of [scores v]) if <(item (i) of [scores v]) < (5)> then //if the score is lower than 5 insert [okay] at (i) of [evaluation v] //tells how the score is else if <(item (i) of [scores v]) < (10)> then insert [good] at (i) of [evaluation v] else insert [great!] at (i) of [evaluation v] end end change [i v] by (1)
 * Evaluating numbers/letters

if <(1 Health) < (2 Health)> then say [Player 2 wins] else say [Player 1 wins] end
 * Comparing different variables (e.g. comparing two characters' health in a game)

set [confirmed v] to [0] //stores yes or no is the answer is complete and acceptable repeat until <(confirmed) = [1]> ask [How good are my cookies?] and wait if <<(answer) < (1)> or <(answer) > (10)>> then say [The response must be from 1 through 10] for (2) secs else set [confirmed v] to [1] end end
 * Asking for an opinion on a scale of 1 to 10

Workaround
The block can be replicated with the following code:

 (b)> or <(a) = (b)>>>

Less than or equal to
Sometimes it is necessary to know if a value is less than or equal to another value, but there is no block to do so. However, it can be worked around in two ways:  (b)>>

<<(a) < (b)> or <(a) = (b)>> The first workaround is more efficient.