C - Operators

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical functions.
By definition, an operator performs a certain operation on operands. An operator needs one or
more operands for the operation to be performed.

Depending on how many operands are required to perform the operation, operands are called as
unary, binary or ternary operators. They need one, two or three operands respectively.

• Unary operators − ++ (increment), -- (decrement), ! (NOT), ~ (compliment), & (address of), *

(dereference)

• Binary operators − arithmetic, logical and relational operators except !

• Ternary operators − The ? operator

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. Here, you will get an overview of all
these chapters. Thereafter, we have provided independent chapters on each of these operators that
contain plenty of examples to show how these operators work in C Programming.

Arithmetic Operators

We are most familiar with the arithmetic operators. These operators are used to perform arithmetic
operations on operands. The most common arithmetic operators are addition (+), subtraction (-),
multiplication (*), and division (/).

In addition, the modulo (%) is an important arithmetic operator that computes the remainder of a
division operation. Arithmetic operators are used in forming an arithmetic expression. These
operators are binary in nature in the sense they need two operands, and they operate on numeric
operands, which may be numeric literals, variables or expressions.

For example, take a look at this simple expression −

a+b

Here "+" is an arithmetic operator. We shall learn more about arithmetic operators in C in a
subsequent chapter.

The following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by the C language. Assume
variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −
 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
We are also acquainted with relational operators while learning secondary mathematics. These
operators are used to compare two operands and return a boolean value (true or false). They are
used in a boolean expression.

The most common relational operators are less than (<), greater than (>), less than or equal to (<=),
greater than or equal to (>=), equal to (==), and not equal to (!=). Relational operators are also binary
operators, needing two numeric operands.

For example, in the Boolean expression −

a>b

Here, ">" is a relational operator.

Operator Description Example

(A == B)
Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If yes, then the condition
== is not
becomes true.
true.

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

Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand. If yes, (A < B) is
<
then the condition becomes true. true.

(A >= B)
Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right
>= is not
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true.
true.

Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right (A <= B)
<=
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. is true.

Logical Operators
These operators are used to combine two or more boolean expressions. We can form a compound
Boolean expression by combining Boolean expression with these operators. An example of logical
operator is as follows −

a >= 50 && b >= 50

The most common logical operators are AND (&&), OR(||), and NOT (!). Logical operators are also
binary operators.

Operator Description Example

(A &&
Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non-zero, then the
&& B) is
condition becomes true.
false.

Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non-zero, then the (A || B)
||
condition becomes true. is true.

!(A &&
Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state of its
! B) is
operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will make it false.
true.

Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operators let you manipulate data stored in computer’s memory. These operators are used
to perform bit-level operations on operands.
The most common bitwise operators are AND (&), OR (|), XOR (^), NOT (~), left shift (<<), and right
shift (>>). Here the "~" operator is a unary operator, while most of the other bitwise operators are
binary in narure.

Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit−by−bit operation. The truth tables for &, "|", and "^"
are 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

& (A & B) = 12, i.e., 0000 1100
exists in both operands.

Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either

| (A | B) = 61, i.e., 0011 1101
operand.

Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one

^ (A ^ B) = 49, i.e., 0011 0001
operand but not both.
 Binary One's Complement Operator is unary and has
~ (~A ) = ~(60), i.e,. -0111101
the effect of 'flipping' bits.

Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is

<< moved left by the number of bits specified by the A << 2 = 240 i.e., 1111 0000
right operand.

Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is

>> moved right by the number of bits specified by the A >> 2 = 15 i.e., 0000 1111
right operand.

Assignment Operators
As the name suggests, an assignment operator "assigns" or sets a value to a named variable in C.
These operators are used to assign values to variables. The "=" symbol is defined as assignment
operator in C, however it is not to be confused with its usage in mathematics.

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

Operator Description Example

Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right C = A + B will assign the value of
=
side operands to left side operand A + B to C

Add AND assignment operator. It adds the right

+= operand to the left operand and assign the result to the C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
left operand.

Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts the

-= right operand from the left operand and assigns the C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
result to the left operand.

Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies the

*= right operand with the left operand and assigns the C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
result to the left operand.

Divide AND assignment operator. It divides the left

/= operand with the right operand and assigns the result C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
to the left operand.

Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes modulus

%= using two operands and assigns the result to the left C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
operand.
 <<= 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

Hence, the expression "a = 5" assigns 5 to the variable "a", but "5 = a" is an invalid expression in C.

The "=" operator, combined with the other arithmetic, relational and bitwise operators form
augmented assignment operators. For example, the += operator is used as add and assign operator.
The most common assignment operators are =, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=, &=, |=, and ^=.

Misc Operators ↦ sizeof & ternary

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

Operator Description Example

sizeof() Returns the size of a variable. sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return 4.

&a; returns the actual address of the

& Returns the address of a variable.
variable.

* Pointer to a variable. *a;

If Condition is true ? then value X :

?: Conditional Expression.
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.
Show Examples

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

Other Operators in C

Apart from the above, there are a few other operators in C that are not classified into any of the
above categories. For example, the increment and decrement operators (++ and --) are unary in
nature and can appear as a prefix or postfix to the operand.

The operators that work with the address of memory location such as the address-of operator (&)
and the dereference operator (*). The sizeof operator (sizeof) appears to be a keyword but really an
operator.
C also has the type cast operator (()) that forces the type of an operand to be changed. C also uses
the dot (.) and the arrow (->) symbols as operators when dealing with derived data types such
as struct and union.

The C99 version of C introduced a few additional operators such as auto, decltype.

A single expression in C may have multiple operators of different type. The C compiler evaluates its
value based on the operator precedence and associativity of operators. For example, in the following
expression −

a+b*c

The multiplication operand takes precedence over the addition operator.