Comparison operators are symbols used in programming and mathematics to compare two values. They help determine the relationship between these values, such as whether one is greater than, less than, or equal to the other. Common comparison operators include greater than (>), less than (<), equal to (==), not equal to (!=), greater than or equal to (>=), and less than or equal to (<=). These operators return a boolean value, which means they evaluate to either true or false. For example, if you compare the numbers 5 and 3 using the greater than operator (5 > 3), the result is true. Comparison operators are essential in programming for making decisions, controlling the flow of code, and performing calculations.