If statement comparing two string ee variables won't return false

Question

I have the following code in a template:

segment is: {segment_3} <br /> 
category is: {category_url_title}<br />
{if {segment_3} == {category_url_title}}
submenu goes here
{/if}

It gives the following output for categories that do not match the URL:

segment is: evaporated-apples
category is: frozen-apples 
submenu goes here

If I compare to a string literal, e.g., {segment_3} == "bacon", the conditional returns false. Why does comparing two variables that contain different strings return true?

Answer 1

In your case, you were comparing 2 variables (string) without quotes so both variables will be considered as TRUE i.e {if TRUE == TRUE} #### {/if}. In the same way when you put a single variable tag in if condition like {if variable_name} #### {/if} OR {if {variable_name}} #### {/if}

Having the quotes (single or double), EE considers the variable/s tag value as single string value and get compared correctly like:

{if "{segment_3}" == "{category_url_title}"} ###### {/if}