List Comparison (how it works)

List comparison works by comparing element by element.

For each pair of equal elements, the comparison advances to the next. The first that is not equal decides. And 10 is greater than 3 while "10" is not greater than "3".

You can learn more in the docs:

Lists are compared element by element, disregarding the size (tuples are compared by size then elements). So it should come down to integers and binaries comparing differently.

iex(1)> "10" > "3"
false
iex(2)> 10 > 3
true

Now it’s clear, thanks a lot @NobbZ and @LostKobrakai for your answers.

As for reasoning for this behaviour - computing size of list is as expensive as traversing whole list, so comparing two lists first by length and then by elements would make whole operation more expensive.

The most efficient way to compare two lists on the basis of their sizes is by using Enum.count() function from Enum Module. It will work like this:

Enum.count([3,10]) > Enum.count([3,3,3,3])
false

Enum.count(["3","10"]) > Enum.count(["3", "3", "3", "3"])
false