Operators in C programming
An operator is a symbol which operates on a value or a variable. For example: + is an operator
to perform addition.
C programming has wide range of operators to perform various operations. For better
understanding of operators, these operators can be classified as:
Operators in C programming
Arithmetic Operators
Increment and Decrement Operators
Assignment Operators
Relational Operators
Logical Operators
Conditional Operators
Bitwise Operators
Special Operators
C Arithmetic Operators
An arithmetic operator performs mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction and
multiplication on numerical values (constants and variables).
Operator Meaning of Operator
+ addition or unary plus
- subtraction or unary minus
* multiplication
/ division
% remainder after division( modulo division)
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Example #1: Arithmetic Operators
// C Program to demonstrate the working of arithmetic operators
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
int a = 9,b = 4, c;
c = a+b;
printf("a+b = %d \n",c);
c = a-b;
printf("a-b = %d \n",c);
c = a*b;
printf("a*b = %d \n",c);
c=a/b;
printf("a/b = %d \n",c);
c=a%b;
printf("Remainder when a divided by b = %d \n",c);
return 0;
}
Output
a+b = 13
a-b = 5
a*b = 36
a/b = 2
Remainder when a divided by b=1
The operators +, - and * computes addition, subtraction and multiplication respectively as you
might have expected.
In normal calculation, 9/4 = 2.25. However, the output is 2 in the program.
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It is because both variables a and b are integers. Hence, the output is also an integer. The
compiler neglects the term after decimal point and shows answer 2 instead of 2.25.
The modulo operator % computes the remainder. When a = 9 is divided by b = 4, the remainder
is 1. The % operator can only be used with integers.
Suppose a = 5.0, b = 2.0, c = 5 and d = 2. Then in C programming,
a/b = 2.5 // Because both operands are floating-point variables
a/d = 2.5 // Because one operand is floating-point variable
c/b = 2.5 // Because one operand is floating-point variable
c/d = 2 // Because both operands are integers
Increment and decrement operators
C programming has two operators increment ++ and decrement -- to change the value of an
operand (constant or variable) by 1.
Increment ++ increases the value by 1 whereas decrement -- decreases the value by 1. These
two operators are unary operators, meaning they only operate on a single operand.
Example #2: Increment and Decrement Operators
// C Program to demonstrate the working of increment and decrement operators
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
int a = 10, b = 100;
float c = 10.5, d = 100.5;
printf("++a = %d \n", ++a);
printf("--b = %d \n", --b);
printf("++c = %f \n", ++c);
printf("--d = %f \n", --d);
return 0;
}
Output
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++a = 11
--b = 99
++c = 11.500000
++d = 99.500000
Here, the operators ++ and -- are used as prefix. These two operators can also be used as
postfix like a++ and a--. Visit this page to learn more on how increment and decrement
operators work when used as postfix.
C Assignment Operators
An assignment operator is used for assigning a value to a variable. The most common
assignment operator is =
Operator Example Same as
= a=b a=b
+= a += b a = a+b
-= a -= b a = a-b
*= a *= b a = a*b
/= a /= b a = a/b
%= a %= b a = a%b
Example #3: Assignment Operators
// C Program to demonstrate the working of assignment operators
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
int a = 5, c;
c = a;
printf("c = %d \n", c);
c += a; // c = c+a
printf("c = %d \n", c);
c -= a; // c = c-a
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printf("c = %d \n", c);
c *= a; // c = c*a
printf("c = %d \n", c);
c /= a; // c = c/a
printf("c = %d \n", c);
c %= a; // c = c%a
printf("c = %d \n", c);
return 0;
}
Output
c=5
c = 10
c=5
c = 25
c=5
c=0
C Relational Operators
A relational operator checks the relationship between two operands. If the relation is true, it
returns 1; if the relation is false, it returns value 0.
Operator Meaning of Operator Example
== Equal to 5 == 3 returns 0
> Greater than 5 > 3 returns 1
< Less than 5 < 3 returns 0
!= Not equal to 5 != 3 returns 1
>= Greater than or equal to 5 >= 3 returns 1
<= Less than or equal to 5 <= 3 return 0
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Example #4: Relational Operators
// C Program to demonstrate the working of arithmetic operators
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
int a = 5, b = 5, c = 10;
printf("%d == %d = %d \n", a, b, a == b); // true
printf("%d == %d = %d \n", a, c, a == c); // false
printf("%d > %d = %d \n", a, b, a > b); //false
printf("%d > %d = %d \n", a, c, a > c); //false
printf("%d < %d = %d \n", a, b, a < b); //false
printf("%d < %d = %d \n", a, c, a < c); //true
printf("%d != %d = %d \n", a, b, a != b); //false
printf("%d != %d = %d \n", a, c, a != c); //true
printf("%d >= %d = %d \n", a, b, a >= b); //true
printf("%d >= %d = %d \n", a, c, a >= c); //false
printf("%d <= %d = %d \n", a, b, a <= b); //true
printf("%d <= %d = %d \n", a, c, a <= c); //true
return 0;
}
Output
5 == 5 = 1
5 == 10 = 0
5>5=0
5 > 10 = 0
5<5=0
5 < 10 = 1
5 != 5 = 0
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5 != 10 = 1
5 >= 5 = 1
5 >= 10 = 0
5 <= 5 = 1
5 <= 10 = 1
C Logical Operators
An expression containing logical operator returns either 0 or 1 depending upon whether
expression results true or false. Logical operators are commonly used in decision making in C
programming.
Operator Meaning of Operator Example
Logial AND. True only if all If c = 5 and d = 2 then, expression ((c ==
&&
operands are true 5) && (d > 5)) equals to 0.
Logical OR. True only if either If c = 5 and d = 2 then, expression ((c ==
||
one operand is true 5) || (d > 5)) equals to 1.
Logical NOT. True only if the If c = 5 then, expression ! (c == 5) equals
!
operand is 0 to 0.
Example #5: Logical Operators
// C Program to demonstrate the working of logical operators
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
int a = 5, b = 5, c = 10, result;
result = (a == b) && (c > b);
printf("(a == b) && (c > b) equals to %d \n", result);
result = (a == b) && (c < b);
printf("(a == b) && (c < b) equals to %d \n", result);
result = (a == b) || (c < b);
printf("(a == b) || (c < b) equals to %d \n", result);
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result = (a != b) || (c < b);
printf("(a != b) || (c < b) equals to %d \n", result);
result = !(a != b);
printf("!(a == b) equals to %d \n", result);
result = !(a == b);
printf("!(a == b) equals to %d \n", result);
return 0;
}
Output
(a == b) && (c > b) equals to 1
(a == b) && (c < b) equals to 0
(a == b) || (c < b) equals to 1
(a != b) || (c < b) equals to 0
!(a != b) equals to 1
!(a == b) equals to 0
Explanation of logical operator program
(a == b) && (c > 5) evaluates to 1 because both operands (a == b) and (c > b) is 1 (true).
(a == b) && (c < b) evaluates to 0 because operand (c < b) is 0 (false).
(a == b) || (c < b) evaluates to 1 because (a = b) is 1 (true).
(a != b) || (c < b) evaluates to 0 because both operand (a != b) and (c < b) are 0 (false).
!(a != b) evaluates to 1 because operand (a != b) is 0 (false). Hence, !(a != b) is 1 (true).
!(a == b) evaluates to 0 because (a == b) is 1 (true). Hence, !(a == b) is 0 (false).
Bitwise Operators
During computation, mathematical operations like: addition, subtraction, addition and division
are converted to bit-level which makes processing faster and saves power.
Bitwise operators are used in C programming to perform bit-level operations.
Operators Meaning of operators
& Bitwise AND
| Bitwise OR
^ Bitwise exclusive OR
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~ Bitwise complement
<< Shift left
>> Shift right
Other Operators
Comma Operator
Comma operators are used to link related expressions together. For example:
int a, c = 5, d;
The sizeof operator
The sizeof is an unary operator which returns the size of data (constant, variables, array,
structure etc).
Example #6: sizeof Operator
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
int a, e[10];
float b;
double c;
char d;
printf("Size of int=%lu bytes\n",sizeof(a));
printf("Size of float=%lu bytes\n",sizeof(b));
printf("Size of double=%lu bytes\n",sizeof(c));
printf("Size of char=%lu byte\n",sizeof(d));
printf("Size of integer type array having 10 elements = %lu bytes \n", sizeof(e));
return 0;
}
Output
Size of int = 4 bytes
Size of float = 4 bytes
Size of double = 8 bytes
Size of char = 1 byte
Size of integer type array having 10 elements = 40 bytes
C Ternary Operator (?:)
A conditional operator is a ternary operator, that is, it works on 3 operands.
Conditional Operator Syntax
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conditionalExpression ? expression1 : expression2
The conditional operator works as follows:
The first expression conditionalExpression is evaluated first. This expression evaluates to 1 if it's
true and evaluates to 0 if it's false.
If conditionalExpression is true, expression1 is evaluated.
If conditionalExpression is false, expression2 is evaluated.
Example #7: C conditional Operator
#include <stdio.h>
void main(){
char February;
int days;
printf("If this year is leap year, enter 1. If not enter any integer: ");
scanf("%c",&February);
// If test condition (February == 'l') is true, days equal to 29.
// If test condition (February =='l') is false, days equal to 28.
days = (February == '1') ? 29 : 28;
printf("Number of days in February = %d",days);
return 0;
}
Output
If this year is leap year, enter 1. If not enter any integer: 1
Number of days in February = 29
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