C Programming Operators
In this tutorial, you will learn about different operators in C programming with the
help of examples.
An operator is a symbol that operates on a value or a variable. For example: + is an
operator to perform addition.
C has a wide range of operators to perform various operations.
C Arithmetic Operators
An arithmetic operator performs mathematical operations such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division etc 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)
Example 1: Arithmetic Operators
// Working of arithmetic operators
#include <stdio.h>
int 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.
It is because both the variables a and b are integers. Hence, the output is also an
integer. The compiler neglects the term after the 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,
// Either one of the operands is a floating-point number
a/b = 2.5
a/d = 2.5
c/b = 2.5
// Both operands are integers
c/d = 2
C 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
// Working of increment and decrement operators
#include <stdio.h>
int 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
++a = 11
--b = 99
++c = 11.500000
--d = 99.500000
Here, the operators ++ and -- are used as prefixes. These two operators can also be
used as postfixes like a++ and a-- . Visit this page to learn more about
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
Operator Example Same as
%= a %= b a = a%b
Example 3: Assignment Operators
// Working of assignment operators
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 5, c;
c = a; // c is 5
printf("c = %d\n", c);
c += a; // c is 10
printf("c = %d\n", c);
c -= a; // c is 5
printf("c = %d\n", c);
c *= a; // c is 25
printf("c = %d\n", c);
c /= a; // c is 5
printf("c = %d\n", c);
c %= a; // c = 0
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.
Relational operators are used in decision making and loops.
Operator Meaning of Operator Example
== Equal to 5 == 3 is evaluated to 0
> Greater than 5 > 3 is evaluated to 1
< Less than 5 < 3 is evaluated to 0
!= Not equal to 5 != 3 is evaluated to 1
>= Greater than or equal to 5 >= 3 is evaluated to 1
<= Less than or equal to 5 <= 3 is evaluated to 0
Example 4: Relational Operators
// Working of relational operators
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 5, b = 5, c = 10;
printf("%d == %d is %d \n", a, b, a == b);
printf("%d == %d is %d \n", a, c, a == c);
printf("%d > %d is %d \n", a, b, a > b);
printf("%d > %d is %d \n", a, c, a > c);
printf("%d < %d is %d \n", a, b, a < b);
printf("%d < %d is %d \n", a, c, a < c);
printf("%d != %d is %d \n", a, b, a != b);
printf("%d != %d is %d \n", a, c, a != c);
printf("%d >= %d is %d \n", a, b, a >= b);
printf("%d >= %d is %d \n", a, c, a >= c);
printf("%d <= %d is %d \n", a, b, a <= b);
printf("%d <= %d is %d \n", a, c, a <= c);
return 0;
}
Output
5 == 5 is 1
5 == 10 is 0
5 > 5 is 0
5 > 10 is 0
5 < 5 is 0
5 < 10 is 1
5 != 5 is 0
5 != 10 is 1
5 >= 5 is 1
5 >= 10 is 0
5 <= 5 is 1
5 <= 10 is 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.
Operato
Meaning Example
r
If c = 5 and d = 2 then,
Logical AND. True only
&& expression ((c==5) && (d>5))
if all operands are true
equals to 0.
Operato
Meaning Example
r
If c = 5 and d = 2 then,
Logical OR. True only if
|| expression ((c==5) || (d>5))
either one operand is true
equals to 1.
Logical NOT. True only If c = 5 then, expression !(c==5)
!
if the operand is 0 equals to 0.
Example 5: Logical Operators
// Working of logical operators
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 5, b = 5, c = 10, result;
result = (a == b) && (c > b);
printf("(a == b) && (c > b) is %d \n", result);
result = (a == b) && (c < b);
printf("(a == b) && (c < b) is %d \n", result);
result = (a == b) || (c < b);
printf("(a == b) || (c < b) is %d \n", result);
result = (a != b) || (c < b);
printf("(a != b) || (c < b) is %d \n", result);
result = !(a != b);
printf("!(a != b) is %d \n", result);
result = !(a == b);
printf("!(a == b) is %d \n", result);
return 0;
}
Output
(a == b) && (c > b) is 1
(a == b) && (c < b) is 0
(a == b) || (c < b) is 1
(a != b) || (c < b) is 0
!(a != b) is 1
!(a == b) is 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).
C Bitwise Operators
During computation, mathematical operations like: addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, etc 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
~ Bitwise complement
<< Shift left
>> Shift right
Visit bitwise operator in C to learn more.
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 a unary operator that returns the size of data (constants, variables,
array, structure, etc).
Example 6: sizeof Operator
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a;
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));
return 0;
}
Output
Size of int = 4 bytes
Size of float = 4 bytes
Size of double = 8 bytes
Size of char = 1 byte
Other operators such as ternary operator ?: , reference operator & , dereference
operator * and member selection operator -> will be discussed in later tutorials.
