VB.

NET Operators
In VB.NET programming, the Operator is a symbol that is used to perform various operations on
variables. VB.NET has different types of Operators that help in performing logical and mathematical
operations on data values. The Operator precedence is used to determine the execution order of different
Operators in the VB.NET programming language.

What is VB.NET Operator?

In VB.NET, operator is a special symbol that tells the compiler to perform the specific logical or mathematical
operation on the data values. The data value itself (which can be either a variable or a constant) is called
an operand, and the Operator performs various operations on the operand.

For example: In the expression,

3+2-1

The symbol + and - are the Operators, and the 3, 2, and 1 are operands.

Different Types of VB.NET Operators

Following are the different types of Operators available in VB.NET:

o Arithmetic Operators
o Comparison Operators
o Logical and Bitwise Operators
o Bit Shift Operators
o Assignment Operators
o Concatenation Operators
o Miscellaneous Operators

Arithmetic Operators

The Arithmetic Operators in VB.NET, used to perform mathematical operations such as subtraction,
addition, multiplication, division, etc. on the operands in VB.NET. These are as follows:
Arithmetic Operators in VB.NET

Operators Description Example

^ It is an exponentiation Operator that is used to Y ^ X (X to the power Y)

raises one operand to the power of another
operand.

+ The addition Operator is used to add numeric X+Y

data, as well as concatenate two string
variables.

- It is a subtraction Operator, which is used to X-Y

subtract the second operand from the first
operand.

* The multiplication Operator is used to multiply X*Y

the operands

/ It is a division Operator used to divide one X/Y

operand by another operand and returns a
floating-point result.

\ It is an integer division Operator, which is X\Y

similar to division Operator, except that it
returns an integer result while dividing one
operand to another operand.

Mod It is a modulo (Modulus) Operator, which is X Mod Y

used to divide two operands and returns only a
remainder.

Example of Arithmetic Operators in VB.NET:

Arithmetic_Operator.vb

Imports System
Module Arithmetic_Operator
Sub Main ()
'Declare a, b And c as integer Data Type ()
Dim a, b, c As Integer
Dim d As Single
a = 17
b=4
' Use of + Operator
 c=a+b
Console.WriteLine(" Sum of a + b is {0}", c)

'Use of - Operator
c=a-b
Console.WriteLine(" Subtraction of a - b is {0}", c)

'Use of * Operator
c=a*b
Console.WriteLine(" Multiplication of a * b is {0}", c)

'Use of / Operator
d=a/b
Console.WriteLine(" Division of a / b is {0}", d)

'Use of \ Operator
c=a\b
Console.WriteLine(" Similar to division Operator (return only integer valu e) of a - b is {0}", c)

'Use of Mod Operator

c = a Mod b
Console.WriteLine(" Modulus of a Mod b is {0}", c)

'Use of ^ Operator
c=a^b
Console.WriteLine(" Power of a ^ b is {0}", c)
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit...")
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above program, by pressing the F5 button or Start button from the Visual
Studio; then it shows the following result:
Comparison Operators

As the name suggests, the Comparison Operator is used to compare the value of two variables or operands
for the various condition such as greater, less than or equal, etc. and returns a Boolean value either true or
false based on the condition.

Operator Description Example

= It checks whether the value of the two (A = B)

operands is equal; If yes, it returns a true value,
otherwise it shows False.

<> It is a Non-Equality Operator that checks (A <> B), check Non-Equality

whether the value of the two operands is not
equal; it returns true; otherwise, it shows false.

> A greater than symbol or Operator is used to (A > B); if yes, TRUE,
determine whether the value of the left
operand is greater than the value of the right Else FALSE
operand; If the condition is true, it returns
TRUE; otherwise, it shows FALSE value.

< It is a less than symbol which checks whether (A < B); if the condition is true,
the value of the left operand is less than the returns TRUE else FALSE
value of the right operand; If the condition is
true, it returns TRUE; otherwise, it shows FALSE
value.

>= It is greater than equal to which checks two A >= B

conditions whether the first operand is greater
than or equal to the second operand; if yes, it
returns TRUE; otherwise, it shows False.

<= This symbol represents less than equal to which A <= B

determines the first operand is less than or
equal to the second operand, and if the
 condition is true, it returns TRUE; otherwise, it
shows FALSE.

Is The Is Operator is used to validate whether the result = obj1 Is obj2

two objects reference the same variable or
object; If the test is true, it returns True;
otherwise, the result is False. In short, it checks
the equality of the objects. An Is Operator is
also used to determine whether the object
refers to a valid object.

IsNot The IsNot Operator is similar to Is Operator, Result = obj1 IsNot obj2
except that the two object references the
different object; if yes, the result is True;
otherwise, the result is False.

Like The Like Operator is used to check the pattern result = string Like the pattern,
expression of string variable; And if the pattern the pattern represents the
matched, the result is True; otherwise, it series of characters used by
returns False. Like Operator.

Example of Comparison Operators in VB.NET

Comparison_Operator.vb
Imports System
Module Comparison_Operator
Sub Main()
'declaration of Integer, Object and String Data Type variables
Dim x As Integer = 5
Dim y As Integer = 10
Dim Result, obj, obj2 As Object
Dim str, str2 As String
str = "Apple12345"
str2 = "Apple12345"
obj = 10
obj2 = 20

Console.WriteLine(" Program of Comparison Operator")

'Use of > Operator
Console.WriteLine(" Output of x > y is {0}", x > y)

'Use of < Operator

 Console.WriteLine(" Output of x < y is {0}", x < y)

'Use of = Operator
Console.WriteLine(" Output of x = y is {0}", x = y)

'Use of <> Operator

Console.WriteLine(" Output of x <> y is {0}", x <> y)

'Use of >= Operator

Console.WriteLine(" Output of x >= y is {0}", x >= y)

'Use of <= Operator

Console.WriteLine(" Output of x <= y is {0}", x <= y)

'Use of Is Operator
Result = obj Is obj2
Console.WriteLine(" Output of obj Is obj2 is {0}", Result)

'Use of Is Operator
Result = obj IsNot obj2
Console.WriteLine(" Output of obj IsNot obj2 is {0}", Result)

'Use of Like Operator

Result = str Like str2
Console.WriteLine(" Output of str Like str2 is {0}", Result)
Console.WriteLine(" Press any key to exit...")
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above code by pressing the F5 button or Start button in Visual studio, it returns
the following output:
Logical and Bitwise Operators

The logical and bitwise Operators work with Boolean (true or false) conditions, and if the conditions become
true, it returns a Boolean value. The following are the logical and bitwise Operators used to perform the
various logical operations such as And, Or, Not, etc. on the operands (variables). Suppose there are two
operand A and B, where A is True, and B is False.

Operator Description Example

And The And Operator represents, whether both the (A And B), result =
operands are true; the result is True. False

Or It is an Or Operator that returns a true value; if (A Or B), result =

anyone operand is true from both the operands. True

Not The Not Operator is used to reverse the logical Not A

condition. For example, if the operand's logic is
True, it reveres the condition and makes it False. Or

Not(A And B) is
True

Xor It is an Exclusive OR Operator that represents, A Xor B is True

whether both the expression is true or false, the
result is True; otherwise, the result is False.

AndAlso It is a logical AND Operator that performs short- A AndAlso B = False

circuit operation on the variables, and if both the
operands are true, the result is True else the result
is False.

OrElse It is a logical OR Operator that perform short-circuit A OrElse B = True

operation on Boolean data. If anyone of the
operand is true, the result is True else the result is
False.
 IsFalse The IsFalse Operator is used to determine whether
an expression is False.

IsTrue The IsTrue Operator is used to determine whether

an expression is True.

Example of Logical and Bitwise Operator:

Logic_Bitwise.vb

Imports System
Module Logic_Bitwise
Sub Main()
Dim A As Boolean = True
Dim B As Boolean = False
Dim c, d As Integer
c = 10
d = 20

'Use of And Operator

If A And B Then
Console.WriteLine(" Operands A And B are True")
End If

'Use of Or Operator
If A Or B Then
Console.WriteLine(" Operands A Or B are True")
End If

'Use of Xor Operator

If A Xor B Then
Console.WriteLine(" Operands A Xor B is True")
End If

'Use of And Operator

If c And d Then
Console.WriteLine(" Operands c And d is True")
End If
 'Use of Or Operator
If c Or d Then
Console.WriteLine(" Operands c Or d is True")
End If

'Use of AndAlso Operator

If A AndAlso B Then
Console.WriteLine(" Operand A AndAlso B is True")
End If

'Use of OrElse Operator

If A OrElse B Then
Console.WriteLine(" Operand A OrElse B is True")
End If

'Use of Not Operator

If Not (A And B) Then
Console.WriteLine(" Output of Not (A And B) is True")
End If

Console.WriteLine(" Press any key to exit?")

Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above code by pressing the F5 button or Start button in Visual studio, it returns
the following output:

Bit Shift Operators

The Bit Shit Operators are used to perform the bit shift operations on binary values either to the right or to
the left.
Bit Shift operations in VB.NET

Operator Description

AND The Binary AND Operator are used to copy the common binary bit in the
result if the bit exists in both operands.

OR The Binary OR Operator is used to copy a common binary bit in the result if
the bit found in either operand.

XOR The Binary XOR Operator in VB.NET, used to determine whether a bit is
available to copy in one operand instead of both.

Not The binary NOT Operator is also known as the binary Ones' Compliment
Operator, which is used to flip binary bits. This means it converts the bits
from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0 binary bits.

<< The Binary Left Shift Operator is used to shift the bit to the left side.

>> The Binary Right Shift Operator is used to shift the bit to the right side.

Example of Bit Shift Operator in VB.NET:

BitShift_Operator.vb

Imports System
Module Bitshift_Operator
Sub Main()
Dim x, y, z As Integer
x = 12
y = 25
Dim a, b As Double
a = 5 ' a = 5(00000101)
b = 9 ' b = 9(00001001)

' Use of And Operator

z = x And y
Console.WriteLine(" BitShift Operator x And y is {0}", z)

'Use of Or Operator
z = x Or y
Console.WriteLine(" BitShift Operator x Or y is {0}", z)
 z = x Xor y
Console.WriteLine(" BitShift Operator x Xor y is {0}", z)

z = Not y
Console.WriteLine(" BitShift Operator Not y is {0}", z)

'Use of << Left-Shift Operator

' Output is 00001010
Console.WriteLine(" Bitwise Left Shift Operator - a<<1 = {0}", a << 1)

'Output is 00010010
Console.WriteLine(" Bitwise Left Shift Operator - b<<1 = {0}", b << 1)

'Use of >> Right-Shift Operator

'Output is 00000010
Console.WriteLine(" Bitwise Right Shift Operator - a>>1 = {0}", a << 1)

'Output is 00000100
Console.WriteLine(" Bitwise Right Shift Operator - b>>1 = {0}", a << 1)

Console.WriteLine(" Press any key to exit...")

Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above code by pressing the F5 button or Start button in Visual studio, it returns
the following output:

Assignment Operators

The Assignment Operators are used to assign the value to variables in VB.NET.
Assignment Operators in VB.NET

Operator Description Example

= It is a simple assignment Operator used to assign X = 5, X assign a value 5

a right-side operand or value to a left side X = P + Q, (P + Q) variables or
operand. value assign to X.

+= An Add AND assignment Operator is used to add X += 5, which means

the value of the right operand to the left X= X+5 ( 5 will add and assign to X
operand. And the result is assigned to the left and then result saved to Left X
operand. operand)

-= It is a Subtract AND assignment Operator, which X -= P, which is same as X = X - P

subtracts the right operand or value from the left
operand. And then, the result will be assigned to
the left operand.

*= It is a Multiply AND assignment Operator, which X *= P, which is same as X = X - P

multiplies the right operand or value with the left
operand. And then, the result will be assigned to
the left operand.

/= It is a Divide AND assignment Operator, which X /= P, which is same as X = X - P

divides the left operand or value with the right
operand. And then, the result will be assigned to
the left operand (in floating-point).

\= It is a Divide AND assignment Operator, which X \= P, which is same as X = X - P

divides the left operand or value with the right
operand. And then, the result will be assigned to
the left operand (in integer-point division).

^= It is an expression AND assignment Operator, X ^= P, which is same as X = X ^ P

which raises the left operand or value to the right
operand's power. And then, the result will be
assigned to the left operand.

&= It is a concatenate string assignment Operator Str &= name, which is same as Str
used to bind the right-hand string or variable = Str & name
with the left-hand string or variable. And then,
the result will be assigned to the left operand.
Example of Assignment Operator in VB.NET:

Assign_Operator.vb

Imports System
Module Assign_Operator
Sub Main()
'Declare variable and b As Integer
Dim A As Integer = 5
Dim B As Integer
Dim Str, name As String
name = "come"
Str = "Wel"

'Use of = Operator
B=A
Console.WriteLine(" Assign value A to B is {0}", B)

'Use of += Operator
B += A
Console.WriteLine(" Output of B += A is {0}", B)

'Use of -= Operator
B -= A
Console.WriteLine(" Output of B -= A is {0}", B)

'Use of *= Operator
B *= A
Console.WriteLine(" Output of B *= A is {0}", B)

'Use of /= Operator
B /= A
Console.WriteLine(" Output of B /= A is {0}", B)

'Use of = Operator
B \= A
Console.WriteLine(" Output of B \= A is {0}", B)
 'Use of ^= Operator
B ^= A
Console.WriteLine(" Output of B ^= A is {0}", B)

'Use of &= Operator

Str &= name
Console.WriteLine(" Output of Str &= name is {0}", Str)

Console.WriteLine(" Press any key to exit...")

Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above code by pressing the F5 button or Start button in Visual studio, it returns
the following output:

Concatenation Operators

In VB.NET, there are two concatenation Operators to bind the operands:

Operator Description Example

& It is an ampersand symbol that is used to bind two or Result = Wel &
more operand together. Furthermore, a nonstring come,
operand can also be concatenated with a string variable ( Result =
but in that case, Option Strict is on). Welcome

+ It is also used to add or concatenate two number or string. Result = Wel +

come,
Result =
Welcome

Example of Concatenation Operators in VB.NET.

MyProgram.vb

Imports System
Module MyProgram
Sub Main()
Dim str As String = "Wel"
Dim str2 As String = "come"
Dim str3 As String = " "
Dim str4 As String = "to JavatPoint"
Dim result As String
Dim result2 As String
result = str & str2
Console.WriteLine(" Result = str & str2 gives = {0}", result)
result2 = str + str2 + str3 + str4
Console.WriteLine(" Result = str + str2 + str3 +str4 gives = {0}", result2.ToString)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above code by pressing the F5 button or Start button in Visual studio, it returns
the following output:

Miscellaneous Operators

There are some important Operator in VB.NET

Operator Description Example

Await An Await Operator is used in an Dim output as out = Await

operand to suspend the AsyncMethodThatReturnsResult() Await
execution of an asynchronous AsyncMethod()
method or lambda expression
until the awaited task
completes.
 AddressOf The AddressOf Operator is used AddHandler Button2.Click, AddressOf
to provide a reference to the Button2_Click
address of a procedure.

GetType A GetType Operator is used to MsgBox(GetType(String).ToString())

retrieve the type of the specified
object. In addition, the retrieved
object type provides various
information such as methods,
properties, and events.

Function It defines the lambda Dim mul2 = Function(num As Integer) num * 4

Expression expression, which declares the Console.WriteLine(mul2(4))
parameter and code. A Lambda
expression is a function that is
used to calculate and return
value without defining the
name.

If The If Operator using short Dim a = -4

circuit evaluation to Console.WriteLine(If (a >= 0,
conditionally return a single "Positive", "Negative"))
object value from two defined
object values. The If Operator
can be used with two or three
defined arguments.

Example of Miscellaneous Operators in VB.NET.

Misc_Operator.vb

Imports System
Module Misc_Operator
Sub Main()
' Initialize a variable
Dim a As Integer = 50
' GetType of the Defined Type
Console.WriteLine(GetType(Double).ToString())
Console.WriteLine(GetType(Integer).ToString())
Console.WriteLine(GetType(String).ToString())
Console.WriteLine(GetType(Single).ToString())
Console.WriteLine(GetType(Decimal).ToString())

'Use of Function()
 Dim multiplywith10 = Function(sum As Integer) sum * 10
Console.WriteLine(multiplywith10(10))
Console.WriteLine(If(a >= 0, "Negative", "Positive"))

Console.WriteLine(" Press any key to exit...")

Console.ReadLine()

End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above code by pressing the F5 button or Start button in Visual studio, it returns
the following output:

Operator Precedence in VB.NET

Operator precedence is used to determine the order in which different Operators in a complex expression
are evaluated. There are distinct levels of precedence, and an Operator may belong to one of the levels. The
Operators at a higher level of precedence are evaluated first. Operators of similar precedents are evaluated
at either the left-to-right or the right-to-left level.

The Following table shows the operations, Operators and their precedence -

Operations Operators Precedence

Await Highest

Exponential ^

Unary identity and negation +, -

Multiplication and floating-point division *, /

Integer division \

Modulus arithmetic Mod

 Addition and Subtraction +, -

Arithmetic bit shift <<, >>

All comparison Operators =, <>, <, <=, >,

>=, Is, IsNot,
Like, TypeOf …is

Negation Not

Conjunction And, AndAlso

Inclusive disjunction Or, Else

Exclusive disjunction Xor Lowest

Example of Operator Precedence in VB.NET.

Operator_Precedence.vb

Imports System
Module Operator_Precedence
Sub Main()
'Declare and Initialize p, q, r, s variables
Dim p As Integer = 30
Dim q As Integer = 15
Dim r As Integer = 10
Dim s As Integer = 5
Dim result As Integer

Console.WriteLine("Check Operator Precedence in VB.NET")

'Check Operator Precedence
result = (p + q) * r / s ' 45 * 10 / 5
Console.WriteLine("Output of (p + q) * r / s is : {0}", result)

result = (p + q) * (r / s) ' (45) * (10/5)

Console.WriteLine("Output of (p + q) * (r / s) is : {0}", result)

result = ((p + q) * r) / s ' (45 * 10 ) / 5

Console.WriteLine("Output of ((p + q) * r) / s is : {0}", result)

result = p + (q * r) / s ' 30 + (150/5)

 Console.WriteLine("Output of p + (q * r) / s is : {0}", result)

result = ((p + q * r) / s) ' ((30 + 150) /5)

Console.WriteLine("Output of ((p + q * r) / s) is : {0}", result)

Console.WriteLine(" Press any key to exit...")

Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module

Now compile and execute the above code by pressing the F5 button or Start button in Visual studio, it returns
the following output: