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Operators

In programming, operators are special symbols or keywords that perform operations on values (called operands). These operations can range from arithmetic and logic to memory access and control flow. Operators are essential for creating expressions that calculate, compare, and manipulate data.

Note

This sounds just like functions in programming, which we'll dive into the next lesson.

That's because operators are functions.

Categories

Category Purpose Example
Arithmetic Perform basic math +, -, *, /, %
Assignment Assign values =, +=, -=, *=
Comparison Compare two values (returns bool) ==, !=, <, >, <=, >=
Logical Combine or negate boolean expressions &&
Bitwise Perform bit-level operations &
Increment/Decrement Increase or decrease a value by one ++, --
C/C++: Pointer/Dereference Work with memory addresses &, *
Member access Access object or struct members ., ->
Ternary Compact conditional logic ? :
Type-related Type casting or checking static_cast, is

Arithmetic Operators

Example

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int a = 10, b = 3;
int result = a * b + (a % b);

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mov rax, 10
add rax, 3      ; rax = rax + 3
xor rdx, rdx    ; clear remainder
mov rcx, 3
div rcx         ; rax = quotient, rdx = remainder

Assignment Operators

Example

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int x = 5;      // assign 5 to x
x += 2;         // x = x + 2
x *= 3;         // x = x * 3

Comparison Operators

Example

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if (a == b)   // equal
if (a != b)   // not equal
if (a < b)    // less than

Logical Operators

Example

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if (x > 0 && y > 0)   // AND
if (x > 0 || y > 0)   // OR
if (!done)           // NOT

Bitwise Operators

Operate at the binary level. Often used in low-level code, hardware interaction, or performance-critical systems.

Operator Name Description
& AND Both bits must be 1
| OR Either bit is 1
^ XOR One bit is 1, not both
~ NOT Inverts bits (1's complement)
<< Shift Left Moves bits left
>> Shift Right Moves bits right

Example

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int a = 5; // 0101 int b = a << 1; // 1010 = 10

Increment / Decrement

Example

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int a = 5;
a++;   // now a is 6
--a;   // now a is 5 again

Note

Postfix (a++) vs Prefix (++a) can have different effects in expressions.

C/C++: Pointer and Dereference

Example

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int val = 42;
int* ptr = &val;  // address-of operator
*ptr = 50;        // dereference, modifies val

Ternary Operator

Compact alternative to an if-else.

Example

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int age = 20;
string msg = (age >= 18) ? "Adult" : "Minor";

Operator Precedence

Operators are evaluated in a specific order. Use parentheses () to control precedence.

Example

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int result = 2 + 3 * 4;  // result is 14, not 20
int result = (2 + 3) * 4;  // now it's 20