Basic Operators in C Programming | Programming and Data Structures - Computer Science Engineering (CSE) PDF Download

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
  • Relational Operators
  • Logical Operators
  • Bitwise Operators
  • Assignment Operators
  • Misc Operators

We will, in this chapter, look into the way each operator works.

Arithmetic Operators

The following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by the C language. Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

OperatorDescriptionExample
+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

The following table shows all the relational operators supported by C. Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

OperatorDescriptionExample
==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

Following table shows all the logical operators supported by C language. Assume variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then −

OperatorDescriptionExample
&&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 −

pqp & qp | qp ^ q
00000
01011
11110
10011


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 −

OperatorDescriptionExample
&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 Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits.(~A ) = -61, i.e,. 1100 0011 in 2's complement form.
<<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

The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language −

OperatorDescriptionExample
=Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right side operands to left side operandC = 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 ↦ sizeof & ternary

Besides the operators discussed above, there are a few other important operators including sizeof and ? : supported by the C Language.

OperatorDescriptionExample
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

Operators Precedence in C

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression and decides how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the multiplication operator has a higher precedence than the addition operator.

For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has a higher precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.

Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators will be evaluated first.

CategoryOperatorAssociativity
Postfix() [] -> . ++ - -Left to right
Unary+ - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeofRight 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
The document Basic Operators in C Programming | Programming and Data Structures - Computer Science Engineering (CSE) is a part of the Computer Science Engineering (CSE) Course Programming and Data Structures.
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FAQs on Basic Operators in C Programming - Programming and Data Structures - Computer Science Engineering (CSE)

1. What are the basic operators in C programming?
Ans. The basic operators in C programming are arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /, %), relational operators (==, !=, >, <, >=, <=), logical operators (&&, ||, !), assignment operators (=, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=), increment and decrement operators (++, --), and bitwise operators (&, |, ^, ~, <<, >>).
2. How do arithmetic operators work in C programming?
Ans. Arithmetic operators in C programming perform mathematical operations on numerical operands. The addition operator (+) adds two operands, the subtraction operator (-) subtracts the second operand from the first, the multiplication operator (*) multiplies two operands, the division operator (/) divides the first operand by the second, and the modulus operator (%) returns the remainder of the division.
3. What are relational operators used for in C programming?
Ans. Relational operators in C programming are used to compare two operands and return a boolean value (true or false). The equality operator (==) checks if two operands are equal, the inequality operator (!=) checks if two operands are not equal, the greater than operator (>) checks if the first operand is greater than the second, the less than operator (<) checks if the first operand is less than the second, the greater than or equal to operator (>=) checks if the first operand is greater than or equal to the second, and the less than or equal to operator (<=) checks if the first operand is less than or equal to the second.
4. How do logical operators work in C programming?
Ans. Logical operators in C programming perform logical operations on boolean operands. The logical AND operator (&&) returns true if both operands are true, the logical OR operator (||) returns true if at least one of the operands is true, and the logical NOT operator (!) returns the opposite boolean value of the operand.
5. What are assignment operators used for in C programming?
Ans. Assignment operators in C programming are used to assign values to variables. The simple assignment operator (=) assigns the value on the right-hand side to the variable on the left-hand side. Additionally, there are compound assignment operators such as +=, -=, *=, /=, and %=, which perform the operation on the variable and assign the result back to the variable. For example, x += 5 is equivalent to x = x + 5.
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