Operators in C | Set 1 (Arithmetic Operators)
Operators are the foundation of any programming language. Thus the functionality of C language is incomplete without the use of operators. Operators allow us to perform different kinds of operations on operands. In C, operators in Can be categorized in following categories:
- Arithmetic Operators (+, -, *, /, %, post-increment, pre-increment, post-decrement, pre-decrement)
- Relational Operators (==, !=, >, <, >= & <=) Logical Operators (&&, || and !)
- Bitwise Operators (&, |, ^, ~, >> and <<)
- Assignment Operators (=, +=, -=, *=, etc)
- Other Operators (conditional, comma, sizeof, address, redirection)
Arithmetic Operators: These are used to perform arithmetic/mathematical operations on operands. The binary operators falling in this category are:
- Addition: The ‘+’ operator adds two operands. For example, x+y.
- Subtraction: The ‘-‘ operator subtracts two operands. For example, x-y.
- Multiplication: The ‘*’ operator multiplies two operands. For example, x*y.
- Division: The ‘/’ operator divides the first operand by the second. For example, x/y.
- Modulus: The ‘%’ operator returns the remainder when first operand is divided by the second. For example, x%y.
C
// C program to demonstrate // working of binary arithmetic// operators#include <stdio.h>int main(){ int a = 10, b = 4, res; // printing a and b printf("a is %d and b is %d\n", a, b); res = a + b; // addition printf("a+b is %d\n", res); res = a - b; // subtraction printf("a-b is %d\n", res); res = a * b; // multiplication printf("a*b is %d\n", res); res = a / b; // division printf("a/b is %d\n", res); res = a % b; // modulus printf("a%%b is %d\n", res); return 0;} |
C++
#include <iostream>using namespace std;int main() { int a = 10, b = 4, res; // printing a and b cout<<"a is "<<a<<" and b is "<<b<<"\n"; // addition res = a + b; cout << "a+b is: "<< res << "\n"; // subtraction res = a - b; cout << "a-b is: "<< res << "\n"; // multiplication res = a * b; cout << "a*b is: "<< res << "\n"; // division res = a / b; cout << "a/b is: "<< res << "\n"; // modulus res = a % b; cout << "a%b is: "<< res << "\n"; return 0;} |
Output:
a is 10 and b is: 4 a+b is: 14 a-b is: 6 a*b is: 40 a/b is: 2 a%b is: 2
The ones falling into the category of unary arithmetic operators are:
- Increment: The ‘++’ operator is used to increment the value of an integer. When placed before the variable name (also called pre-increment operator), its value is incremented instantly. For example, ++x.
And when it is placed after the variable name (also called post-increment operator), its value is preserved temporarily until the execution of this statement and it gets updated before the execution of the next statement. For example, x++. - Decrement: The ‘ – – ‘ operator is used to decrement the value of an integer. When placed before the variable name (also called pre-decrement operator), its value is decremented instantly. For example, – – x.
And when it is placed after the variable name (also called post-decrement operator), its value is preserved temporarily until the execution of this statement and it gets updated before the execution of the next statement. For example, x – –.
C
// C program to demonstrate working// of Unary arithmetic// operators#include <stdio.h>int main(){ int a = 10, b = 4, res; // post-increment example: // res is assigned 10 only, a is not updated yet res = a++; printf("a is %d and res is %d\n", a, res); // a becomes 11 now // post-decrement example: // res is assigned 11 only, a is not updated yet res = a--; printf("a is %d and res is %d\n", a, res); // a becomes 10 now // pre-increment example: // res is assigned 11 now since // a is updated here itself res = ++a; // a and res have same values = 11 printf("a is %d and res is %d\n", a, res); // pre-decrement example: // res is assigned 10 only since a is updated here // itself res = --a; // a and res have same values = 10 printf("a is %d and res is %d\n", a, res); return 0;} |
C++
#include <iostream>using namespace std;int main(){ int a = 10, b = 4, res; // post-increment example: // res is assigned 10 only, // a is not updated yet res = a++; // a becomes 11 now cout << "a is " << a << " and res is " << res << "\n"; // post-decrement example: // res is assigned 11 only, // a is not updated yet res = a--; // a becomes 10 now cout << "a is " << a << " and res is " << res << "\n"; // pre-increment example: // res is assigned 11 now // since a is updated here itself res = ++a; // a and res have same values = 11 cout << "a is " << a << " and res is " << res << "\n"; // pre-decrement example: // res is assigned 10 only // since a is updated here // itself res = --a; // a and res have same values = 10 cout << "a is " << a << " and res is " << res << "\n"; return 0;} |
Output:
a is 11 and res is 10 a is 10 and res is 11 a is 11 and res is 11 a is 10 and res is 10
We will soon be discussing other categories of operators in different posts.
To know about Operator Precedence and Associativity, refer this link:
Quiz on Operators in C
This article is contributed by Ayush Jaggi. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above
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