C Programming Operators

In this tutorial, you will learn about different operators in C programming with the
help of examples.

An operator is a symbol that operates on a value or a variable. For example:  +  is an

operator to perform addition.
C has a wide range of operators to perform various operations.

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

// Working of arithmetic operators

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 9,b = 4, c;

c = a+b;
printf("a+b = %d \n",c);
c = a-b;
printf("a-b = %d \n",c);
c = a*b;
printf("a*b = %d \n",c);
c = a/b;
printf("a/b = %d \n",c);
c = a%b;
printf("Remainder when a divided by b = %d \n",c);

return 0;
}

Output

a+b = 13
a-b = 5
a*b = 36
a/b = 2
Remainder when a divided by b=1

The operators  + ,  -  and  *  computes addition, subtraction, and multiplication

respectively as you might have expected.
In normal calculation,  9/4 = 2.25 . However, the output is  2  in the program.

It is because both the variables  a  and b are integers. Hence, the output is also an
integer. The compiler neglects the term after the decimal point and shows
answer  2  instead of  2.25 .
The modulo operator  %  computes the remainder. When  a=9  is divided by  b=4 , the
remainder is  1 . The  %  operator can only be used with integers.
Suppose  a = 5.0 ,  b = 2.0 ,  c = 5  and  d = 2 . Then in C programming,
// Either one of the operands is a floating-point number

a/b = 2.5

a/d = 2.5

c/b = 2.5

// Both operands are integers

c/d = 2

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

// Working of increment and decrement operators

#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

Here, the operators  ++  and  --  are used as prefixes. These two operators can also be
used as postfixes like  a++  and  a-- . Visit this page to learn more about
how increment and decrement operators work when used as postfix.

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
 Operator Example Same as

%= 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

> Greater than 5 > 3 is evaluated to 1

< Less than 5 < 3 is evaluated to 0

!= Not equal to 5 != 3 is evaluated to 1

>= 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.
Operato
Meaning Example
r

If c = 5 and d = 2 then,
Logical AND. True only
&& expression ((c==5) && (d>5))
if all operands are true
equals to 0.
 Operato
Meaning Example
r

If c = 5 and d = 2 then,
Logical OR. True only if
|| expression ((c==5) || (d>5))
either one operand is true
equals to 1.

Logical NOT. True only If c = 5 then, expression !(c==5)

!
if the operand is 0 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

Explanation of logical operator program

 (a == b) && (c > 5)  evaluates to 1 because both operands  (a == b)  and  (c >

b)  is 1 (true).

 (a == b) && (c < b)  evaluates to 0 because operand  (c < b)  is 0 (false).

 (a == b) || (c < b)  evaluates to 1 because  (a = b)  is 1 (true).

 (a != b) || (c < b)  evaluates to 0 because both operand  (a != b)  and  (c <

b)  are 0 (false).

 !(a != b)  evaluates to 1 because operand  (a != b)  is 0 (false). Hence, !(a !=

b) is 1 (true).
 !(a == b)  evaluates to 0 because  (a == b)  is 1 (true). Hence,  !(a == b)  is 0

(false).

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

>> Shift right

Visit bitwise operator in C to learn more.

Other Operators

Comma Operator

Comma operators are used to link related expressions together. For example:

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

Other operators such as ternary operator  ?: , reference operator  & , dereference

operator  *  and member selection operator  ->  will be discussed in later tutorials.