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C Operators

📅 2026-06-20 | 📂 C

C Operators

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical operations. The C language has a rich set of built-in operators and provides the following types of operators:

  • Arithmetic Operators
  • Relational Operators
  • Logical Operators
  • Bitwise Operators
  • Assignment Operators
  • Miscellaneous Operators

This chapter will cover arithmetic operators, relational operators, logical operators, bitwise operators, assignment operators, and other operators one by one.

The following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by the C language. Assume variable A has the value 10, and variable B has the value 20, then:

OperatorDescriptionExample
+Adds two operandsA + B will give 30
-Subtracts second operand from the firstA - B will give -10
*Multiplies both operandsA * B will give 200
/Divides numerator by denominatorB / A will give 2
%Modulus operator, remainder after integer divisionB % A will give 0
++Increment operator, increases the integer value by oneA++ will give 11
--Decrement operator, decreases the integer value by oneA-- will give 9

Example

Try the following example to understand all the arithmetic operators available in C:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int a = 21;
    int b = 10;
    int c ;

    c = a + b;
    printf("Line 1 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    c = a - b;
    printf("Line 2 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    c = a * b;
    printf("Line 3 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    c = a / b;
    printf("Line 4 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    c = a % b;
    printf("Line 5 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    c = a++;
    printf("Line 6 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    c = a--;
    printf("Line 7 - Value of c is %dn", c );

}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Value of c is 31
Line 2 - Value of c is 11
Line 3 - Value of c is 210
Line 4 - Value of c is 2
Line 5 - Value of c is 1
Line 6 - Value of c is 21
Line 7 - Value of c is 22

The following example demonstrates the difference between a++ and ++a:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int c;
    int a = 10;
    c = a++;
    printf("Assign first, then increment:n");
    printf("Line 1 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    printf("Line 2 - Value of a is %dn", a );

    a = 10;
    c = a--;
    printf("Line 3 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    printf("Line 4 - Value of a is %dn", a );

    printf("Increment first, then assign:n");
    a = 10;
    c = ++a;
    printf("Line 5 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    printf("Line 6 - Value of a is %dn", a );

    a = 10;
    c = --a;
    printf("Line 7 - Value of c is %dn", c );
    printf("Line 8 - Value of a is %dn", a );
}

The output of the above program will be:

Assign first, then increment:
Line 1 - Value of c is 10
Line 2 - Value of a is 11
Line 3 - Value of c is 10
Line 4 - Value of a is 9
Increment first, then assign:
Line 5 - Value of c is 11
Line 6 - Value of a is 11
Line 7 - Value of c is 9
Line 8 - Value of a is 9

The following table shows all the relational operators supported by C. Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then:

OperatorDescriptionExample
==Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If yes, then the condition becomes true.(A == B) is not true.
!=Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If values are not equal, then the condition becomes true.(A != B) is true.
>Checks if the value of the left operand is greater than the value of the right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true.(A > B) is not true.
<Checks if the value of the left operand is less than the value of the right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true.(A < B) is true.
>=Checks if the value of the left operand is greater than or equal to the value of the right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true.(A >= B) is not true.
<=Checks if the value of the left operand is less than or equal to the value of the right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true.(A <= B) is true.

Example

Try the following example to understand all the relational operators available in C:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int a = 21;
    int b = 10;
    int c ;

    if( a == b )
    {
        printf("Line 1 - a is equal to bn" );
    }
    else
    {
        printf("Line 1 - a is not equal to bn" );
    }
    if ( a < b )
    {
        printf("Line 2 - a is less than bn" );
    }
    else
    {
        printf("Line 2 - a is not less than bn" );
    }
    if ( a > b )
    {
        printf("Line 3 - a is greater than bn" );
    }
    else
    {
        printf("Line 3 - a is not greater than bn" );
    }
    /* Let's change the values of a and b */
    a = 5;
    b = 20;
    if ( a <= b )
    {
        printf("Line 4 - a is either less than or equal to  bn" );
    }
    if ( b >= a )
    {
        printf("Line 5 - b is either greater than  or equal to bn" );
    }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - a is not equal to b
Line 2 - a is not less than b
Line 3 - a is greater than b
Line 4 - a is either less than or equal to b
Line 5 - b is either greater than or equal to b

The following table shows all the logical operators supported by C. Assume variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then:

OperatorDescriptionExample
&&Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non-zero, then the condition becomes true.(A && B) is false.
||Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non-zero, then the condition becomes true.(A || B) is true.
!Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state of its operand. If a condition is true, then the Logical NOT operator will make it false.!(A && B) is true.

Example

Try the following example to understand all the logical operators available in C:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int a = 5;
    int b = 20;
    int c ;

    if ( a && b )
    {
        printf("Line 1 - Condition is truen" );
    }
    if ( a || b )
    {
        printf("Line 2 - Condition is truen" );
    }
    /* Let's change the values of  a and b */
    a = 0;
    b = 10;
    if ( a && b )
    {
        printf("Line 3 - Condition is truen" );
    }
    else
    {
        printf("Line 3 - Condition is not truen" );
    }
    if ( !(a && b) )
    {
        printf("Line 4 - Condition is truen" );
    }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Condition is true
Line 2 - Condition is true
Line 3 - Condition is not true
Line 4 - Condition is true

Bitwise operators work on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth tables for &, |, and ^ are as follows:

pqp & qp | qp ^ q
00000
01011
11110
10011

Assume if A = 60; and B = 13; now in binary format they will be as follows:

A = 0011 1100

B = 0000 1101

-----------------

A&B = 0000 1100

A|B = 0011 1101

A^B = 0011 0001

~A = 1100 0011

The following table lists the bitwise operators supported by C. Assume variable 'A' holds 60 and variable 'B' holds 13, then:

OperatorDescriptionExample
&Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands.(A & B) will give 12, which is 0000 1100
|Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand.(A | B) will give 61, which is 0011 1101
^Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both.(A ^ B) will give 49, which is 0011 0001
~Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits.(~A ) will give -61, which is 1100 0011 in 2's complement form due to a signed binary number.
<<Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand.A << 2 will give 240, which is 1111 0000
>>Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand.A >> 2 will give 15, which is 0000 1111

Example

Try the following example to understand all the bitwise operators available in C:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
    unsigned int a = 60;    /* 60 = 0011 1100 */
    unsigned int b = 13;    /* 13 = 0000 1101 */
    int c = 0;

    c = a & b;       /* 12 = 0000 1100 */
    printf("Line 1 - Value of c is %dn", c );

    c = a | b;       /* 61 = 0011 1101 */
    printf("Line 2 - Value of c is %dn", c );

    c = a ^ b;       /* 49 = 0011 0001 */
    printf("Line 3 - Value of c is %dn", c );

    c = ~a;          /*-61 = 1100 0011 */
    printf("Line 4 - Value of c is %dn", c );

    c = a << 2;     /* 240 = 1111 0000 */
    printf("Line 5 - Value of c is %dn", c );

    c = a >> 2;     /* 15 = 0000 1111 */
    printf("Line 6 - Value of c is %dn", c );
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Value of c is 12
Line 2 - Value of c is 61
Line 3 - Value of c is 49
Line 4 - Value of c is -61
Line 5 - Value of c is 240
Line 6 - Value of c is 15

The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language:

OperatorDescriptionExample
=Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand.C = A + B will assign value of A + B into C
+=Add AND assignment operator. It adds right operand to the left operand and assigns the result to left operand.C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
-=Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts right operand from the left operand and assigns the result to left operand.C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
*=Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies right operand with the left operand and assigns the result to left operand.C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
/=Divide AND assignment operator. It divides left operand with the right operand and assigns the result to left operand.C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
%=Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes modulus using two operands and assigns the result to left operand.C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
<<=Left shift AND assignment operator.C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2
>>=Right shift AND assignment operator.C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2
&=Bitwise AND assignment operator.C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2
^=Bitwise exclusive OR and assignment operator.C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2
|=Bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator.C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2

Example

Try the following example to understand all the assignment operators available in C:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int a = 21;
    int c ;

    c =  a;
    printf("Line 1 - =  Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c +=  a;
    printf("Line 2 - += Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c -=  a;
    printf("Line 3 - -= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c *=  a;
    printf("Line 4 - *= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c /=  a;
    printf("Line 5 - /= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c  = 200;
    c %=  a;
    printf("Line 6 - %= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c <<=  2;
    printf("Line 7 - <<= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c >>=  2;
    printf("Line 8 - >>= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c &=  2;
    printf("Line 9 - &= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c ^=  2;
    printf("Line 10 - ^= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

    c |=  2;
    printf("Line 11 - |= Operator Example, Value of c = %dn", c );

}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - =  Operator Example, Value of c = 21
Line 2 - += Operator Example, Value of c = 42
Line 3 - -= Operator Example, Value of c = 21
Line 4 - *= Operator Example, Value of c = 441
Line 5 - /= Operator Example, Value of c = 21
Line 6 - %= Operator Example, Value of c = 11
Line 7 - <<= Operator Example, Value of c = 44
Line 8 - >>= Operator Example, Value of c = 11
Line 9 - &= Operator Example, Value of c = 2
Line 10 - ^= Operator Example, Value of c = 0
Line 11 - |= Operator Example, Value of c = 2

There are a few other important operators including sizeof and ? : supported by the C Language.

OperatorDescriptionExample
sizeof()Returns the size of a variable.sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return 4.
&Returns the address of a variable.&a; returns the actual address of the variable.
*Pointer to a variable.*a;
? :Conditional Expression.If Condition is true ? then value X : otherwise value Y

Example

Try the following example to understand all the miscellaneous operators available in C:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int a = 4;
    short b;
    double c;
    int* ptr;

    /* Example of sizeof operator */
    printf("Line 1 - Size of variable a = %dn", sizeof(a) );
    printf("Line 2 - Size of variable b = %dn", sizeof(b) );
    printf("Line 3 - Size of variable c = %dn", sizeof(c) );

    /* Example of & and * operators */
    ptr = &a;    /* 'ptr' now contains the address of 'a'*/
    printf("value of a is  %dn", a);
    printf("*ptr is %dn", *ptr);

    /* Example of ternary operator */
    a = 10;
    b = (a == 1) ? 20: 30;
    printf( "Value of b is %dn", b );

    b = (a == 10) ? 20: 30;
    printf( "Value of b is %dn", b );
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Size of variable a = 4
Line 2 - Size of variable b = 2
Line 3 - Size of variable c = 8
value of a is  4
*ptr is 4
Value of b is 30
Value of b is 20

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This affects how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the multiplication operator has a higher precedence than the addition operator.

For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has a higher precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.

Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators will be evaluated first.

CategoryOperatorAssociativity
Postfix() [] -> . ++ - -Left to right
Unary+ - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeofRight to left
Multiplicative* / %Left to right
Additive+ -Left to right
Shift<< >>Left to right
Relational< <= > >=Left to right
Equality== !=Left to right
Bitwise AND&Left to right
Bitwise XOR^Left to right
Bitwise OR|Left to right
Logical AND&&Left to right
Logical OR||Left to right
Conditional?:Right to left
Assignment= += -= *= /= %=>>= <<= &= ^= |=Right to left
Comma,Left to right

Example

Try the following example to understand the operator precedence in C:

## Example
#include<stdio.h>

main()
{
    int a = 20;
    int b = 10;
    int c = 15;
    int d = 5;
    int e;

    e = (a + b) * c / d;      // ( 30 * 15 ) / 5
    printf("Value of (a + b) * c / d is : %dn",  e );

    e = ((a + b) * c) / d;    // (30 * 15 ) / 5
    printf("Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is  : %dn" ,  e );

    e = (a + b) * (c / d);   // (30) * (15/5)
    printf("Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is  : %dn",  e );

    e = a + (b * c) / d;     //  20 + (150/5)
    printf("Value of a + (b * c) / d is  : %dn" ,  e );

    return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Value of (a + b) * c / d is : 90
Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is  : 90
Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is  : 90
Value of a + (b * c) / d is  : 50
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