C Operators

  1. Arithmetic Operators
  2. Relational Operators
  3. Logical Operators
  4. Bitwise Operators
  5. Assignment Operators
  6. Misc Operators

Arithmetic Operators

Operator Description Example
+ Adds two operands A + B = 30
− Subtracts second operand from the first A − B = -10
* Multiplies both operands A * B = 200
/ Divides numerator by de-numerator B / A = 2
% Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division B % A = 0
++ Increment operator increases the integer value by one A++ = 11
– Decrement operator decreases the integer value by one A– = 9

Relational Operators

Operator Description Example
== Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If yes, then the condition becomes true. (A == B) is not true.
!= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If the values are not equal, then the condition becomes true. (A != B) is true.
> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. (A > B) is not true.
< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. (A < B) is true.
>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. (A >= B) is not true.
<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. (A <= B) is true.

Logical Operators

Operator Description Example
&& Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non-zero, then the condition becomes true. (A && B) is false.
|| Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non-zero, then the condition becomes true. (A || B) is true.
! Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state of its operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will make it false. !(A && B) is true.

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth tables for &, |, and ^ is as follows −

p q p & q p | q p ^ q
0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 1
1 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 1

Assume A = 60 and B = 13 in binary format, they will be as follows −

A = 0011 1100
B = 0000 1101
-----------------
A&B = 0000 1100
A|B = 0011 1101
A^B = 0011 0001
~A = 1100 0011

The following table lists the bitwise operators supported by C. Assume variable ‘A’ holds 60 and variable ‘B’ holds 13, then −

Operator Description Example
& Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands (A & B) = 12, i.e., 0000 1100
| Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand (A | B) = 61, i.e., 0011 1101
^ Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both (A ^ B) = 49, i.e., 0011 0001
~ Binary One’s Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of ‘flipping’ bits (~A ) = ~(60), i.e,. -0111101
« Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand A « 2 = 240 i.e., 1111 0000
» Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand A » 2 = 15 i.e., 0000 1111

Assignment Operators

Operator Description Example
= Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand C = A + B will assign the value of A + B to C
+= Add AND assignment operator. It adds the right operand to the left operand and assign the result to the left operand C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
-= Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts the right operand from the left operand and assigns the result to the left operand C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
*= Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies the right operand with the left operand and assigns the result to the left operand C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
/= Divide AND assignment operator. It divides the left operand with the right operand and assigns the result to the left operand C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
%= Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes modulus using two operands and assigns the result to the left operand C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
«= Left shift AND assignment operator C «= 2 is same as C = C « 2
»= Right shift AND assignment operator C »= 2 is same as C = C » 2
&= Bitwise AND assignment operator C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2
^= Bitwise exclusive OR and assignment operator C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2
|= Bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2

Misc Operators

Included here for completeness, well explain these later.

Operator Description Example
sizeof() Returns the size of a variable sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return 4.
& Returns the address of a variable &a; returns the actual address of the variable.
* Pointer to a variable *a;
?: Conditional Expression If Condition is true ? then value X : otherwise value Y

Precedence

Precedence from greatest to least

Category Operator Associativity
Postfix () [] -> . ++ - - Left to right
Unary + - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeof Right to left
Multiplicative * / % Left to right
Additive + - Left to right
Shift « » Left to right
Relational < <= > >= Left to right
Equality == != Left to right
Bitwise AND & Left to right
Bitwise XOR ^ Left to right
Bitwise OR | Left to right
Logical AND && Left to right
Logical OR || Left to right
Conditional ?: Right to left
Assignment = += -= *= /= %=»= «= &= ^= |= Right to left
Comma , Left to right