C Programming Operators
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical
functions.
Arithmetic Operators
Increment and decrement operators
Assignment operators
Relational Operators
Logical Operators
Bitwise Operators
Coma operator
Sizeof operator
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
1. // Working of arithmetic operators
2. #include <stdio.h>
3. int main()
4. {
5. int a = 9,b = 4, c;
6.
7. c = a+b;
8. printf("a+b = %d \n",c);
9. c = a-b;
10. printf("a-b = %d \n",c);
11. c = a*b;
12. printf("a*b = %d \n",c);
13. c = a/b;
14. printf("a/b = %d \n",c);
15. c = a%b;
16. printf("Remainder when a divided by b = %d \n",c);
17.
18. return 0;
19. }
20. Output
21. a+b = 13
22. a-b = 5
23. a*b = 36
24. a/b = 2
25. Remainder when a divided by b=1
Unary plus (+) Operator
This operator does not make any effect on the operand value, it just returns
operands value.
Consider the given example:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x=1;
x= +4;
printf("x= %d\n",x);
return 0;
}
Unary minus (-) Operator
This operator makes the value negative. It makes positive value to negative
and negative value to positive.
Consider the given example:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x=10;
int y=-20;
printf("value of -x: %d\n",-x);
printf("value of -y: %d\n",-y);
return 0;
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
1. // Working of increment and decrement operators
2. #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
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
// 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
5 > 3 is greater than to
> Greater than 1
< Less than 5 < 3 is less than to 0
!= Not equal to 5 != 3 is evaluated to 1
Operator Meaning of Operator Example
>= 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.
Operator Meaning Example
Logical AND. True only if all If c = 5 and d = 2 then, expression ((c==5) &&
&& operands are true (d>5)) equals to 0.
Logical OR. True only if either If c = 5 and d = 2 then, expression ((c==5) ||
|| one operand is true (d>5)) equals to 1.
Logical NOT. True only if the
! operand is 0 If c = 5 then, expression !(c==5) 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
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
Operators Meaning of operators
>> Shift right
Example 1: Bitwise AND
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int a = 12, b = 25;
printf("Output = %d", a & b);
return 0;
}
Output:8
Bitwise OR Operator |
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int a = 12, b = 25;
printf("Output = %d", a | b);
return 0;
Output:29
Bitwise XOR
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int a = 12, b = 25;
printf("Output = %d", a ^ b);
return 0;
Output:21
Other Operators
Comma Operator
Comma operators are used to link related expressions together. For example:
1. 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
Address of (&) Operator
This operator returns address of any variable.
Consider the given example
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x=10;
printf("Value of x: %d\n",x);
printf("Address of x: %X\n",&x);
return 0;
}