What does the <= operator do in JavaScript, and when would you use it?

The `<=` operator in JavaScript is the less than or equal to operator. It is used to compare two values, and it returns `true` if the left operand is less than or equal to the right operand; otherwise, it returns `false`.

Here's a simple example:

let x = 5;

let y = 10;

console.log(x <= y);  // Outputs: true

In this example, the expression `x <= y` evaluates to `true` because the value of `x` (5) is indeed less than or equal to the value of `y` (10).

You would use the `<=` operator in various scenarios, including:

1. Conditional Statements:

   let age = 18;

   if (age <= 21) {

       console.log("You are 21 or younger.");

   } else {

       console.log("You are older than 21.");

   }

   This is often used in `if` statements to check if a value is less than or equal to a certain threshold.

2. Loop Conditions:

   for (let i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {

       console.log(i);

   }

It's commonly used in loop conditions to iterate over a range of values.

3. Comparison Operations:

  

   let length1 = 5;

   let length2 = 5;

   if (length1 <= length2) {

       console.log("length1 is less than or equal to length2.");

   } else {

       console.log("length1 is greater than length2.");

   }

It's used in general comparison operations to determine the relationship between two values.

The `<=` operator is an essential tool for making decisions based on the relationship between numerical values in JavaScript. It's part of the family of comparison operators that allow you to perform various comparisons in your code.