When is "z" != "z" ?

Hi gang: Here's your opportunity to pound me again for not knowing the basics of php. I vaguely remember something like this being discussed a while back, but can't find the reference. In any event, if one uses -- for ($i="a"; $i<"z"; $i++) { echo($i); } -- it stops at "y" But, if you use -- for ($i="a"; $i<="z"; $i++) { echo($i); } -- it prints considerably more characters after "z" than what one would normally expect -- why is that? Just stopping at "z" would seem to make more sense, wouldn't it? After all, when $i = "z" in the first expression, then wouldn't $i be equal to "z" in the second expression and thus halt the operation? What am I missing here? Thanks. tedd -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://sperling.com http://ancientstones.com http://earthstones.com