Why doesn't this work?

Question

a = 1
b = 2
x = a - b
if a < b:
print('a is less than b by x')
else:
print(a is greater than b by x')

Answer 1

First, you forgot a ' in the second print.
Second, you only print strings.

If you want to print the variable values, you need to format it.
For example like this:
print(f'{a} is less than {b} by {x}')

also better use the absolute value
x = abs(a-b)

otherwise x can also be negative in the first case
"1 is less than 2 by -1" is not right
"1 is less than 2 by 1" is correct

Answer 2

thank you