Difference between Increment and Decrement Operators

Programming languages like C/C++/Java have increment and decrement operators. These are very useful and common operators.

Increment Operators: The increment operator is used to increment the value of a variable in an expression. In the Pre-Increment, value is first incremented and then used inside the expression. Whereas in the Post-Increment, value is first used inside the expression and then incremented.

Syntax:

// PREFIX
++m

// POSTFIX
m++

where m is a variable

Example:

#include <stdio.h> 
  
int increment(int a, int b) 
{ 
    a = 5; 
  
    // POSTFIX 
    b = a++; 
    printf("%d", b); 
  
    // PREFIX 
    int c = ++b; 
    printf("\n%d", c); 
} 
  
// Driver code 
int main() 
{ 
    int x, y; 
    increment(x, y); 
  
    return 0; 
} 

Decrement Operators: The decrement operator is used to decrement the value of a variable in an expression. In the Pre-Decrement, value is first decremented and then used inside the expression. Whereas in the Post-Decrement, value is first used inside the expression and then decremented.

Syntax:

// PREFIX
--m

// POSTFIX
m--

where m is a variable

Example:

#include <stdio.h> 
  
int decrement(int a, int b) 
{ 
    a = 5; 
  
    // POSTFIX 
    b = a--; 
    printf("%d", b); 
  
    // PREFIX 
    int c = --b; 
    printf("\n%d", c); 
} 
  
// Driver code 
int main() 
{ 
    int x, y; 
    decrement(x, y); 
  
    return 0; 
} 

Differences between Increment And Decrement Operators:

Increment Operators	Decrement Operators
Increment Operator adds 1 to the operand.	Decrement Operator subtracts 1 from the operand.
Postfix increment operator means the expression is evaluated first using the original value of the variable and then the variable is incremented(increased).	Postfix decrement operator means the expression is evaluated first using the original value of the variable and then the variable is decremented(decreased).
Prefix increment operator means the variable is incremented first and then the expression is evaluated using the new value of the variable.	Prefix decrement operator means the variable is decremented first and then the expression is evaluated using the new value of the variable.
Generally, we use this in decision making and looping.	This is also used in decision making and looping.

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