To compare two versions depends on your type:

• Two strings

  Use :func:`semver.compare <semver._deprecated.compare>`:

  >>> semver.compare("1.0.0", "2.0.0")
  -1
  >>> semver.compare("2.0.0", "1.0.0")
  1
  >>> semver.compare("2.0.0", "2.0.0")
  0
  

  The return value is negative if version1 < version2, zero if version1 == version2 and strictly positive if version1 > version2.

• Two :class:`~semver.version.Version` instances

  Use the specific operator. Currently, the operators <, <=, >, >=, ==, and != are supported:

  >>> v1 = Version.parse("3.4.5")
  >>> v2 = Version.parse("3.5.1")
  >>> v1 < v2
  True
  >>> v1 > v2
  False
  

• A :class:`~semver.version.Version` type and a :func:`tuple` or :func:`list`

  Use the operator as with two :class:`~semver.version.Version` types:

  >>> v = Version.parse("3.4.5")
  >>> v > (1, 0)
  True
  >>> v < [3, 5]
  True
  

  The opposite does also work:

  >>> (1, 0) < v
  True
  >>> [3, 5] > v
  True
  

• A :class:`~semver.version.Version` type and a :func:`str`

  You can use also raw strings to compare:

  >>> v > "1.0.0"
  True
  >>> v < "3.5.0"
  True
  

  The opposite does also work:

  >>> "1.0.0" < v
  True
  >>> "3.5.0" > v
  True
  

  However, if you compare incomplete strings, you get a :py:exc:`python:ValueError` exception:

  >>> v > "1.0"
  Traceback (most recent call last):
  ...
  ValueError: 1.0 is not valid SemVer string
  

• A :class:`~semver.version.Version` type and a :func:`dict`

  You can also use a dictionary. In contrast to strings, you can have an "incomplete" version (as the other parts are set to zero):

  >>> v > dict(major=1)
  True
  

  The opposite does also work:

  >>> dict(major=1) < v
  True
  

  If the dictionary contains unknown keys, you get a :py:exc:`python:TypeError` exception:

  >>> v > dict(major=1, unknown=42)
  Traceback (most recent call last):
  ...
  TypeError: ... got an unexpected keyword argument 'unknown'
  

Other types cannot be compared.

If you need to convert some types into others, refer to :ref:`sec.convert.versions`.

The use of these comparison operators also implies that you can use builtin functions that leverage this capability; builtins including, but not limited to: :func:`max`, :func:`min` (for examples, see :ref:`sec_max_min`) and :func:`sorted`.