Operators in C

Operators in C, Types of operators in c programming and uses

← Previous Next →

C operators are used to manipulate data and variables in programming. In simple words C operators are used to perform mathematical or logical operations on variables or data.

• The most popular operators in c programming are +, -, *, /, =, &, <, >, etc.
• Each operator has their own unique symbol and functionality.
• C operators are classified into a number of categories which are listed below.

Arithmetic Operators in C

C Language supports 5 basic arithmetic operators. The arithmetic operators +,-,*,/ and % are supported by C and they behave same as their description. These arithmetic operators can operate on any built-in data types allowed in C.

#include<stdio.h> int main() { int m=13, n=3, res; res=m+n; printf("m+n=%d\n",res); res=m-n; printf("m-n=%d\n",res); res=m*n; printf("m*n=%d\n",res); res=m/n; printf("m/n=%d\n",res); res=m%n; printf("Remainder is = %d\n",res); return 0; }

Output

m+n=16 m-n=9 m*n=39 m/n=4 Remainder is = 1

Explanation

• The Arithmetic operators +, -, * and / performs operation according to their specifications.
• Modulo operator % gives remainder for example 13%3 = 1
• When we divide 13 by 3 then the result should be 13/3 = 4.333, but the result is 4 because we have mared res variable as int type so it will store only complete part and ignore fractional part which is .333 in this candition.
• If we want to store complete result then we can mark res variable as float data type.

Relational Operators in C

Relational Operators are also called comparison operators. Relational Operators are used to compare two quantities/variables.

• If result of comparison is true then it returns 1 and if result of comparison is false then it returns 0.
• Relational Operators are basically used in decision making and looping conditions.
• There are 6 relational operators in C, which are listed in below table

#include<stdio.h> int main() { int age=19,check_res; if(age>=18) { printf("You are a valid voter\n"); } if(age<18) { printf("You are a not eligible for voting\n" ); } check_res = (age>=18) printf("The check point value = %d",check_res); return 0; }

Output

You are a valid voter The check point value = 1

* Don't worry if you don't know about if, else conditions, we will learn it in upcoming chapters

Logical Operators in C

Logical Operators are next additional part of relational operators, logical operators are also used for decision making.

• There are 3 logical operators in C programming language.
• Logical expression returns 1 if condition is true and returns 0 if condition is false.

#include<stdio.h> int main() { int a=16,b=18,result; result = (a<b) && (b>a); printf("(a<b) && (b>a) is equal=%d\n",result); result = (a>b) || (b<a); printf("(a>b) || (b<a) is equal=%d\n",result); result = !(a==16); printf("!(a==16) is equal=%d\n",result); return 0; }

Output

(a<b) && (b>a) is equal=1 (a>b) || (b<a) is equal=0 !(a==16) is equal=0

Explanation

• In the program, the expression (a<b) && (b>a) is equal to 1, because (a<b) is True and (b>a) is also true. Since these two expression are associated with logical operator &&, and it gives output as 1 if all conditions are true.
• In the program, the expression (a>b) || (b<a) is equal to 0, because (a>b) is False and (b<a) is also False. Since these two expression are associated with logical operator ||, and it gives output as 0 if all conditions are False.
• In thired expression !(a==16) is equal to 0 because (a==16) is True and ! is converted it in False and False is treated as 0

Assignment Operators in C

Assignment operators are used to assign the result of an expression to a variable. In C programming = is used as an assignment operator.

In C programming there are some extended forms of assignment operators. Let’s understand by example.

#include<stdio.h> int main() { int a=5; int b=10; int c=4; int d=20; int e=30; a += 5 printf("Now a = %d",a); b -= 2 printf("Now b = %d",b); c *= 6 printf("Now c = %d",c); d /= 5 printf("Now d = %d",d); e %= 7 printf("Now e = %d",e); return 0; }

Output

Now a = 10 Now b = 8 Now c = 24 Now d = 4 Now e = 2

Increment and Decrement Operators

C has two very useful operators i.e increment (++) and decrement (--) operators.

• ++ operator is used for increment, it increases the value of the variable by 1
• -- operator is used for decrement, it decreases the value of the variable by 1
• These operators are always used with integral variables.
• If a is an int type variable then increment can be done by ++a or a++, both are the same.
• If b is an int type variable then decrement can be done by --b or b--, both are the same.
• a++ or ++a means a=a+1
• b-- or --b means b=b-1

Conditional Operators or Ternary Operator

Conditional Operators in C is also known as ternary operator and represented as the pair of ? :

Syntax of Ternary Operator

Condition ? Expression1 : Expression2

In the conditional operator, the condition statement decides which expression will be executed. There can be two scenarios!

• If the condition is true
• If the condition is false

A. If the condition is true

If the condition statement is true then expression1 will be executed and the value of the whole expression will be the value of expression1.

#include<stdio.h> int main() { int a=20; int b=30; int x; x=(a<b)?a:b; printf("The value of x = %d",x); return 0; }

Output

The value of x = 20

B. If the condition is false

If the condition statement is false then expression2 will be executed and the value of the whole expression will be the value of expression2.

#include<stdio.h> int main() { int a=20; int b=30; int x; x=(a>b)?a:b; printf("The value of x = %d",x); return 0; }

Output

The value of x = 30

Bitwise Operators in C

Bitwise Operators are used for manipulation of data at bit level. There are many four bitwise operators which are listed below are used for testing the bits or shifting them left or right.

Note : Bitwise operators cannot be applied to float or double data types.

We will learn all about bitwise operator in details in upcoming topics.

Special Operators

C programming offers several special operators which makes C programming more attractive, the some important special operators are comma operator, sizeof operator, pointer operators ( * and & ) and member selection operators ( . and -> )

Comma Operator

Comma operator is used to link several related expression together. See below example how we have implemented related expression together.

In above example we have declared four variables and they are similar types i.e. int type. We have declared all these variables together separated by comma operator (,) instead of typing in four lines.

sozeof Operator

The sizeof operator is used to determine the number of bytes occupied by the opened in run time. In general the opened are variables, constant or data type quantifier. See below examples.

int age; a = sizeof(age); b = sizeof(long int); c = sizeof(132L); d = sizeof(char);

Note : You will learn pointer operators (* and & ) and member selection operator ( . and -> ) later in upcomming chapters.

← Previous Next →