Operators in C

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C Operators are symbols that represent operations to be performed on one or more operands. C provides a wide range of operators, which can be classified into different categories based on their functionality. Operators are used for performing operations on variables and values.

What are Operators in C?

Operators can be defined as the symbols that help us to perform specific mathematical, relational, bitwise, conditional, or logical computations on operands. In other words, we can say that an operator operates the operands. For example, ‘+’ is an operator used for addition, as shown below:

c = a + b;

Here, ‘+’ is the operator known as the addition operator, and ‘a’ and ‘b’ are operands. The addition operator tells the compiler to add both of the operands ‘a’ and ‘b’. The functionality of the C programming language is incomplete without the use of operators.

Types of Operators in C

C has many built-in operators and can be classified into 6 types:

Arithmetic Operators
Relational Operators
Logical Operators
Bitwise Operators
Assignment Operators
Other Operators

Operators in C

The above operators have been discussed in detail:

1. Arithmetic Operations in C

These operators are used to perform arithmetic/mathematical operations on operands. Examples: (+, -, *, /, %,++,–). Arithmetic operators are of two types:

a) Unary Operators:

Operators that operate or work with a single operand are unary operators. For example: Increment(++) and Decrement(–) Operators

int val = 5;
cout<<++val;  // 6

b) Binary Operators:

Operators that operate or work with two operands are binary operators. For example: Addition(+), Subtraction(-), multiplication(*), Division(/) operators

int a = 7;
int b = 2;
cout<<a+b; // 9

2. Relational Operators in C

These are used for the comparison of the values of two operands. For example, checking if one operand is equal to the other operand or not, whether an operand is greater than the other operand or not, etc. Some of the relational operators are (==, >= , <= )(See this article for more reference).

int a = 3;
int b = 5;
cout<<(a < b);
// operator to check if a is smaller than b

3. Logical Operator in C

Logical Operators are used to combining two or more conditions/constraints or to complement the evaluation of the original condition in consideration. The result of the operation of a logical operator is a Boolean value either true or false.

For example, the logical AND represented as the ‘&&’ operator in C returns true when both the conditions under consideration are satisfied. Otherwise, it returns false. Therefore, a && b returns true when both a and b are true (i.e. non-zero)(See this article for more reference).

cout<<((4 != 5) && (4 < 5));     // true

4. Bitwise Operators in C

The Bitwise operators are used to perform bit-level operations on the operands. The operators are first converted to bit-level and then the calculation is performed on the operands. Mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. can be performed at the bit level for faster processing. For example, the bitwise AND operator represented as ‘&’ in C takes two numbers as operands and does AND on every bit of two numbers. The result of AND is 1 only if both bits are 1(True).

int a = 5, b = 9;   // a = 5(00000101), b = 9(00001001)
cout << (a ^ b);   //  00001100
cout <<(~a);       // 11111010

5. Assignment Operators in C

Assignment operators are used to assign value to a variable. The left side operand of the assignment operator is a variable and the right side operand of the assignment operator is a value. The value on the right side must be of the same data type as the variable on the left side otherwise the compiler will raise an error.

Different types of assignment operators are shown below:

a) “=”

This is the simplest assignment operator. This operator is used to assign the value on the right to the variable on the left.
Example:

a = 10;
b = 20;
ch = 'y';

b) “+=”

This operator is the combination of the ‘+’ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first adds the current value of the variable on left to the value on the right and then assigns the result to the variable on the left.
Example:

(a += b) can be written as (a = a + b)
If initially value stored in a is 5. Then (a += 6) = 11.

c) “-=”

This operator is a combination of ‘-‘ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first subtracts the value on the right from the current value of the variable on left and then assigns the result to the variable on the left.
Example:

(a -= b) can be written as (a = a - b)
If initially value stored in a is 8. Then (a -= 6) = 2.

**d) “*=”**

This operator is a combination of the ‘*’ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first multiplies the current value of the variable on left to the value on the right and then assigns the result to the variable on the left.
Example:

(a *= b) can be written as (a = a * b)
If initially, the value stored in a is 5. Then (a *= 6) = 30.

e) “/=”

This operator is a combination of the ‘/’ and ‘=’ operators. This operator first divides the current value of the variable on left by the value on the right and then assigns the result to the variable on the left.
Example:

(a /= b) can be written as (a = a / b)
If initially, the value stored in a is 6. Then (a /= 2) = 3.

6. Other Operators

Apart from the above operators, there are some other operators available in C used to perform some specific tasks. Some of them are discussed here: