C Operators | CrackEase

Operators In C

What is an operator?

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform a specific mathematical, logical, bitwise or other operation on one or more operands. An operand is a value, variable or expression on which the operator acts. A combination of operands and operators forms an expression.

Operators are the building blocks for computations and decision-making in C programs.

Types ?

Operator categories

Operators in C are usually grouped by how many operands they work on and by their functionality:

By arity: Unary (one operand), Binary (two operands), and Ternary (?: conditional operator — three operands).
By purpose: Arithmetic, Relational, Logical, Bitwise, Assignment, and Miscellaneous (sizeof, address-of, pointer dereference, conditional).

Arithmetic operators

Arithmetic operators

Arithmetic operators perform common mathematical operations. Assume A = 5 and B = 10.

Operator	Meaning	Example (A=5, B=10)
+	Addition	A + B = 15
−	Subtraction	A − B = -5
*	Multiplication	A * B = 50
/	Division (integer or floating)	B / A = 2
%	Modulus — remainder of integer division	B % A = 0
++	Increment by 1 (prefix/postfix)	++A → 6 (prefix), A++ uses old value then increments
--	Decrement by 1 (prefix/postfix)	--A → 4 (prefix), A-- uses old value then decrements

Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to combine or invert boolean expressions (usually in control flow). Assume A = 5, B = 10.

Operator	Meaning	Example
&&	Logical AND — true if both operands are true	(A > 0 && B == 10) → true
\|\|	Logical OR — true if any operand is true	(A > 8 \|\| B == 10) → true
!	Logical NOT — negates the boolean value	!(A > 8) → true (because A > 8 is false)

Bitwise operators

Bitwise operators operate on the binary representation of integer types. They are useful for low-level programming and masks.

Example: A = 50 (binary 00110010), B = 10 (binary 00001010).

Operator	Meaning	Result (A=50, B=10)
&	Bitwise AND — bit is 1 only if both bits are 1	(A & B) = 2
\|	Bitwise OR — bit is 1 if any bit is 1	(A \| B) = 58
^	Bitwise XOR — bit is 1 if bits differ	(A ^ B) = 56
~	Bitwise NOT — flips all bits (two's complement)	(~A) = -51 (on typical two's-complement systems)
<<	Left shift — shifts bits left (multiplies by 2 per shift)	A << 2 = 200
>>	Right shift — shifts bits right (divides by 2 per shift, implementation-defined for signed)	A >> 2 = 12

Relational operators

Relational operators compare two values and yield boolean results (true or false). They are commonly used in conditional statements.

Operator	Meaning	Example (A=5, B=10)
==	Equality check	(A == B) → false
!=	Not equal	(A != B) → true
>	Greater than	(A > B) → false
<	Less than	(A < B) → true
>=	Greater than or equal	(A >= B) → false
<=	Less than or equal	(A <= B) → true

Assignment operators

Assignment operators assign values to variables. Compound assignment operators combine an operation with assignment.

Operator	Meaning	Equivalent
=	Simple assignment	C = A + B
+=	Add and assign	C += A → C = C + A
-=	Subtract and assign	C -= A → C = C - A
*=	Multiply and assign	C = A → C = C A
/=	Divide and assign	C /= A → C = C / A
%=	Modulus and assign	C %= A → C = C % A
<<=	Left-shift and assign	C <<= 2 → C = C << 2
>>=	Right-shift and assign	C >>= 2 → C = C >> 2
&=	Bitwise AND and assign	C &= 2 → C = C & 2
^=	Bitwise XOR and assign	C ^= 2 → C = C ^ 2
\|=	Bitwise OR and assign	C \|= 2 → C = C \| 2

Misc operators

Other useful operators

These operators don't fit into the previous categories but are widely used:

Operator	Meaning	Example
sizeof()	Returns size in bytes of a type or variable	sizeof(int) → typically 4
&	Address-of operator — returns the memory address of a variable	&a → address of a
*	Pointer dereference — accesses value at an address	*p → value pointed by p
?:	Ternary conditional operator	cond ? expr1 : expr2 → returns expr1 if cond true, else expr2

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Operators In C

What is an operator?

Operator categories

Other useful operators