Operators in C

On this page, you will learn about operators in C programming, such as the arithmetic operator, arithmetic operator, relational operator, logical operator assignment operator, bitwise operator, unary operator, and ternary operator. We have given an example for all operators.

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What are the Operators in C programming?

• Arithmetic Operator
• Relational Operator
• Logical Operator
• Assignment Operator
• Bitwise Operator
• Unary Operator
• Ternary Operator

Arithmetic Operator:

Arithmetic operators are used to perform basic mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The most common arithmetic operators in C are +, -, *, /, and %. Lets consider a =20 and b=10 are two variables or operand. See the following table:

See the following example of arithmetic operator:

  
  #include<stdio.h>
  int main(){
    int a = 20, b = 10;
    printf("A + B = %d\n",a+b);
    printf("A - B = %d\n",a-b);
    printf("A * B = %d\n",a*b);
    printf("15 / 2  = %d\n",15/2.0);
    printf("A % B = %d\n",a%b);
    return 0;
  }
  

Output:

  A + B = 30
  A - B = 10
  A * B = 200
  15 / 2.0 = 7.500000
  A % B = 0                                      

Relational Operators:

Relational operators are used to compare values and determine the relationship between them. They return a Boolean value of either true or false. The most common relational operators in C are ==, !=, < , >, <=, and >=. Lets consider a=20 and b=10 are two variables. See the following table:

See the following example of relational operator:

  
  #include<stdio.h>
  #include<stdbool.h>
  int main(){
    int a = 20, b = 10;
    printf("A == B = %d\n",a==b);
    printf("A > B = %d\n",a>b);
    printf("A < B = %d\n",a<b);
    printf("A >= B = %d\n",a>=b);
    printf("A <= B = %d\n",a<=b);
    return 0;
  }
  

Output:

  A == B = 0 // 0 means false
  A > B = 1 // 1 means true
  A < B = 0 // 0 means false
  A >= B = 1 // 1 means true
  A <= B = 0 // 0 means false                                    

Logical Operators:

Logical operators are used to combine or negate relational expressions. The logical operators in C are && (logical AND), | | (logical OR), and ! (logical NOT). Assume a=1, b=0 and see the following table:

See the following example of logical operator:

  
  #include<stdio.h>
  #include<stdbool.h>
  int main(){
    bool a = 1, b = 0;
    printf("A && B = %d\n",a && b);
    printf("A | | B = %d\n",a || b);
    printf("!A = %d\n",!a);
    return 0;
  }
  

Output:

  A && B = 0 // 0 means false
  A || B = 1 // 1 means true
  !A = 0 // 0 means false                                

Assignment Operators:

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables. They combine an arithmetic or bitwise operation with an assignment. For example, x += 5 is equivalent to x = x + 5. Assume that a = 6,b = 4,c = 0 and see the following table:

See the following example of assignment operator:

  
  #include<stdio.h>
  int main(){
    bool a = 6, b = 4;
    printf("A = %d,a += b);
    return 0;
  }
  

Output:

  A = 10 // because a = a + b                            

Bitwise Operators:

Bitwise operators are used to perform operations on binary numbers. They are used to manipulate individual bits within a byte or a word. The most common bitwise operators in C are &, |, ^, << (left shift), and >> (right shift). See the following table:

See the following example of bitwise operator:

  
  #include<stdio.h>
  int main(){
   unsigned int a = 60;    // binary: 0011 1100
   unsigned int b = 13;    // binary: 0000 1101
   int result = 0;

   result = a & b;         // bitwise AND: 0000 1100
   printf("a & b = %d\n", result);

   result = a | b;         // bitwise OR: 0011 1101
   printf("a | b = %d\n", result);

   result = a ^ b;         // bitwise XOR: 0011 0001
   printf("a ^ b = %d\n", result);

   result = ~a;            // bitwise NOT: 1100 0011
   printf("~a = %d\n", result);

   result = a << 2;        // bitwise left shift: 1111 0000
   printf("a << 2 = %d\n", result);

   result = a >> 2;        // bitwise right shift: 0000 1111
   printf("a >> 2 = %d\n", result);

   return 0;
  }
  

Output:

  a & b = 12
  a | b = 61
  a ^ b = 49
  ~a = -61
  a << 2 = 240
  a >> 2 = 15                           

Unary Operators:

Unary operators are operators that operate on a single operand. In C, there are several unary operators that can be used to perform different operations on variables or expressions.

See the following example of unary operator:

  
  #include<stdio.h>
  int main(){
   int num = 5;
    printf("num before prefix increment: %d\n", num);
    printf("num after prefix increment: %d\n", ++num);

    num = 5;

    // postfix increment operator
    printf("num before postfix increment: %d\n", num);
    printf("num after postfix increment: %d\n", num++);
    printf("num after second read: %d\n", num);
    return 0;
  }
  

Output:

 num before prefix increment: 5
 num after prefix increment: 6
 num before postfix increment: 5
 num after postfix increment: 5
 num after second read: 6                         

Ternary Operator:

A ternary operator is a conditional operator that takes three operands. It's also known as the conditional operator because it evaluates a condition and returns one value if the condition is true, and another value if the condition is false.

The ternary operator in C takes the form of:

condition ? value1 : value2

Here, the condition is evaluated first. If it's true, the expression returns value1; otherwise, it returns value2. One advantage of using the ternary operator is that it allows for more concise code, especially for simple conditional statements.

See the following example of ternary operator:

  
  #include<stdio.h>
  int main(){
  int x = 10, y = 5, max;
  max = (x > y) ? x : y;
  printf("Max = %d",max)
   return 0;
  }
  

Output:

 Max = 10