Operators in C

Types of Operators in C

1. Arithmetic Operators  
2. Relational Operators  
3. Logical Operators  
4. Assignment Operators  
5. Increment/Decrement Operators  
6. Bitwise Operators  
7. Conditional (Ternary) Operator  
8. Special Operators (sizeof, comma, etc.)

1. Arithmetic Operators

+  addition  
-  subtraction  
*  multiplication  
/  division  
%  modulus (remainder)

Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int a = 10, b = 3;

    printf("Sum = %d\n", a + b);
    printf("Difference = %d\n", a - b);
    printf("Product = %d\n", a * b);
    printf("Division = %d\n", a / b);
    printf("Remainder = %d\n", a % b);

    return 0;
}

2. Relational Operators

==  equal to  
!=  not equal to  
>   greater than  
<   less than  
>=  greater or equal  
<=  less or equal

Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int x = 5, y = 8;

    printf("%d\n", x == y);
    printf("%d\n", x != y);
    printf("%d\n", x > y);
    printf("%d\n", x < y);

    return 0;
}

3. Logical Operators

&&  logical AND  
||  logical OR  
!   logical NOT

Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int a = 5, b = 10;

    printf("%d\n", (a > 2 && b < 20));
    printf("%d\n", (a == 5 || b == 2));
    printf("%d\n", !(a == 5));

    return 0;
}

4. Assignment Operators

=   simple assignment  
+=  add and assign  
-=  subtract and assign  
*=  multiply and assign  
/=  divide and assign  
%=  modulus and assign

Example

int x = 10;
x += 5;   // 15
x -= 3;   // 12

5. Increment & Decrement Operators

++a  pre-increment  
a++  post-increment  
--a  pre-decrement  
a--  post-decrement

Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int a = 10;

    printf("%d\n", ++a);   // 11  
    printf("%d\n", a++);   // 11 (prints old value)
    printf("%d\n", a);     // 12

    return 0;
}

6. Bitwise Operators

&   AND  
|   OR  
^   XOR  
~   NOT  
<<  left shift  
>>  right shift

Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a = 5, b = 3;

    printf("a & b = %d\n", a & b);
    printf("a | b = %d\n", a | b);
    printf("a ^ b = %d\n", a ^ b);
    printf("~a = %d\n", ~a);
    printf("a << 1 = %d\n", a << 1);
    printf("a >> 1 = %d\n", a >> 1);

    return 0;
}

7. Conditional (Ternary) Operator

The ternary operator is a shorthand for if-else.

(condition) ? value_if_true : value_if_false

Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int age = 18;
    char *msg = (age >= 18) ? "Adult" : "Minor";

    printf("%s", msg);

    return 0;
}

8. Special Operators

sizeof Operator

printf("%lu", sizeof(int));
printf("%lu", sizeof(3.14));

Comma Operator

int a = (5, 10);  // a = 10

Practical Example – Combine Multiple Operators

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int a = 5, b = 10, c;

    c = (a < b && b != 0) ? (a + b) : 0;

    printf("Result = %d", c);

    return 0;
}

Practice Questions

1. What is an operator? List different types.
2. Explain logical operators with examples.
3. Write a program to demonstrate arithmetic and relational operators.
4. What is the difference between pre-increment and post-increment?
5. Write a program to show bitwise operators.

Practice Task