C Programming/Operators
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical functions. C language is rich in built-in operators and provides the following types of operators:
Arithmetic Operators
Arithmetic Operators are used to performing mathematical calculations like addition +, subtraction -, multiplication *, division / and modulus %.
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| + | Addition |
| - | Subtraction |
| * | Multiplication |
| / | Division |
| % | Modulus |
Increment and Decrement Operators
Increment and Decrement Operators are useful operators generally used to minimize the calculation, i.e. ++x & x++ means x=x+1 or --x & x−− means x=x-1. But there is a slight difference between ++ or −− written before or after the operand. Applying the pre-increment first add one to the operand and then the result is assigned to the variable on left whereas post-increment first assigns the value to the variable on left and then increment the operand.
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| ++ | Increment |
| −− | Decrement |
Relational Operators
Relational operators are used to compare two quantities or values.
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| == | Is equal to |
| != | Is not equal to |
| > | Greater than |
| < | Less than |
| >= | Greater than or equal to |
| <= | Less than or equal to |
Logical Operators
C provides three logical operators when we test more than one condition to make decisions. These are: && (meaning logical AND), || (meaning logical OR) and ! (meaning logical NOT).
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| && | And operator. Performs a logical conjunction of two expressions. (if both expressions evaluate to True, result is True. If either expression evaluates to False, result is False) |
| || | Or operator. Performs a logical disjunction on two expressions. (if either or both expressions evaluate to True, result is True) |
| ! | Not operator. Performs logical negation on an expression. |
Bitwise Operators
C provides a special operator for bit operation between two variables.
Assignment Operators
Assignment operators applied to assign the result of an expression to a variable. C has a collection of shorthand assignment operators.
Conditional Operator
C offers a ternary operator which is the conditional operator (?: in combination) to construct conditional expressions.
Special Operators
C supports some special operators