C defines <, >, <=, and >= to be relational operators, and it defines == and != to be equality operators.
If a for or while statement uses a loop counter, than it is safer to use a relational operator (such as <) to terminate the loop than to use an equality operator (such as !=).
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Related Guidelines
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| . Use numerical comparison operators to terminate loops whose counter changes by more than one |
| MISRA-C |
Sources
ISO/IEC 9899:2011 Section 6.5.8, "Relational operators," and Section 6.5.9, "Equality operators"
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