
C operators
C operators are symbols that are used to perform mathematical or logical manipulations. The C programming language is rich with built-in operators. Operators take part in a program for manipulating data and variables and form a part of the mathematical or logical expressions.
Types of Operator in C
C Programming Language offers various types Of Operators having different functional capabilities. 1. Arithmetic Operators 2. Relational Operators 3. Logical Operators 4. Assignment Operators 5. Increment and Decrement Operators 6. Conditional Operator 7. Bitwise Operators 8. Special Operators
Arithmetic Operators
Arithmetic Operators are used to performing mathematical calculations like addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/) and modulus (%).
Operators | Description |
+ | Addition |
– | Subtraction |
* | Multiplication |
/ | Divison |
% | Modulus |
Increment and Decrement Operators.
Increment and Decrement Operators are useful operators generally used to minimize the calculation, i.e. ++x and x++ means x=x+1 or -x and x−−means x=x-1. But there is a slight difference between ++ or −− written before or after the operand. Applying the pre-increment first add one to the operand and then the result is assigned to the variable on the left whereas post-increment first assigns the value to the variable on the left and then increment the operand.
Operator | Description |
++ | Increment |
— | Decrement |
Relational operators
Relational operators are used to comparing two quantities or values.
Operator | Description |
== | is equal to |
!= | is not equal to |
> | Greater than |
< | less than |
>= | Greater than equal to |
<= | less than equal |
Logical Operators
C provides three logical operators when we test more than one condition to make decisions. These are: && (meaning logical AND), || (meaning logical OR) and ! (meaning logical NOT).
Operator | Description |
&& | AND operator. It performs logical conjunction of two expressions. (if both expressions evaluate to True, result is True. If either expression evaluates to False, the result is False) |
|| | OR operator. It performs a logical disjunction on two expressions. (if either or both expressions evaluate to True, the result is True) |
! | NOT operator. It performs logical negation on an expression. |
Bitwise Operators
C provides a special operator for bit operation between two variables.
Operator | Description |
>> | Binary right shift Operator |
~ | Binary ones Compliment Operator |
& | Binary AND operator |
^ | Binary XOR operator |
| | Binary OR operator |
<< | Binary Left Shift operator |
Assignment Operators
Assignment operators applied to assign the result of an expression to a variable. C has a collection of shorthand assignment operators.
Operator | Description |
= | Assign |
+= | increment then assign |
-= | decrement then assign |
*= | Multiplies then assign |
/= | Divides then assign |
<<= | left shift and assign |
>>= | Right shift and assign |
&= | Bitwise AND assign |
^= | Bitwise exclusive OR and assign |
|= | Bitwise inclusive OR and |
%= | Module then assign |
Conditional Operators
C offers a ternary operator which is the conditional operator (?: in combination) to construct conditional expressions
operator | Description |
? : | Conditional Expression |
Special operators
C supports some special operators.
operator | Description |
sizeof() | Returns the size of a memory location. |
& | Returns the address of a memory location. |
* | Pointer to a variable. |