C OPERATORS
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An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical manipulations. C language is rich in built-in operators and provides following type of operators:
- Arithmetic Operators
- Relational Operators
- Logical Operators
- Bitwise Operators
- Assignment Operators
- Misc Operators
We will cover each one of above in detail.
1) Arithmetic Operators
|
Operator |
Description |
|
+ |
Adds two operands |
|
- |
Subtracts second operand from the first |
|
* |
Multiply both operands |
|
/ |
Divide numerator by de-numerator |
|
% |
Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division |
|
++ |
Increment operator increases integer value by one |
|
-- |
Decrement operator decreases integer value by one |
2) Relational Operators
|
Operator |
Description |
|
== |
Checks if the value of two operands is equal or not, if yes then condition becomes true. |
|
!= |
Checks if the value of two operands is equal or not, if values are not equal then condition becomes true. |
|
> |
Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. |
|
< |
Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. |
|
>= |
Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. |
|
<= |
Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. |
3) Logical Operators
|
Operator |
Description |
|
&& |
Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non zero then condition becomes true. |
|
|| |
Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non zero then condition becomes true. |
|
! |
Called Logical NOT Operator. Use to reverses the logical state of its operand. If a condition is true then Logical NOT operator will make false. |
4) Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit by bit operation. The truth tables for &, |, and ^ are as follows:
|
a |
b |
a & b |
a | b |
a ^ b |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Operator |
Description |
|
& |
Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands. |
|
| |
Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand. |
|
^ |
Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both. |
|
~ |
Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits. |
|
<< |
Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand. |
|
>> |
Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand. |
5) Assignment Operators
There are following assignment operators supported by C language: Misc Operators ↦ sizeof & ternary. There are few other important operators including sizeof and ? : supported by C Language.
|
Operator |
Description |
|
= |
Simple assignment operator, Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand |
|
+= |
Add AND assignment operator, It adds right operand to the left operand and assign the result to left operand |
|
-= |
Subtract AND assignment operator, It subtracts right operand from the left operand and assign the result to left operand |
|
*= |
Multiply AND assignment operator, It multiplies right operand with the left operand and assign the result to left operand |
|
/= |
Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with the right operand and assign the result to left operand |
|
%= |
Modulus AND assignment operator, It takes modulus using two operands and assign the result to left operand |
|
<<= |
Left shift AND assignment operator |
|
>>= |
Right shift AND assignment operator |
|
&= |
Bitwise AND assignment operator |
|
^= |
bitwise exclusive OR and assignment operator |
|
|= |
bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator |
6) Misc Operators ↦ sizeof & ternary
There are few other important operators including sizeof and ? : supported by C Language.
|
Operator |
Description |
Example |
|
sizeof() |
Returns the size of an variable. |
sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return 4. |
|
& |
Returns the address of an variable. |
&a; will give actual address of the variable. |
|
* |
Pointer to a variable. |
*a; will pointer to a variable. |
|
? : |
Conditional Expression |
If Condition is true ? Then value X : Otherwise value Y |
|