I have this code
http://ideone.com/QC0Ajw
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ideone.com/api/embed.js/link/QC0Ajw"></script>

If the above didn't show up this is the code:
print "Enter the word";
$keyword = <>;
$zippy = 'the';
if (($zippy cmp $keyword) == 0) {
print "yes we can\n";
}

The keyword I enter is:
the

The if statement fails and the program does not print "yes we can"

Why isn't this working? Isn't the keyword the same as 'the'?
@analprogrammer
The if statement still fails, using:
if ($zippy eq $keyword)

I have also tried using quotes " instead of apostrophes '
Makes no difference