assignment operators in turbo c

• C Programming Tutorial
• C - Overview
• C - Features
• C - History
• C - Environment Setup
• C - Program Structure
• C - Hello World
• C - Compilation Process
• C - Comments
• C - Keywords
• C - Identifiers
• C - User Input
• C - Basic Syntax
• C - Data Types
• C - Variables
• C - Integer Promotions
• C - Type Conversion
• C - Constants
• C - Literals
• C - Escape sequences
• C - Format Specifiers
• C - Storage Classes
• C - Operators
• C - Decision Making
• C - if statement
• C - if...else statement
• C - nested if statements
• C - switch statement
• C - nested switch statements
• C - While loop
• C - For loop
• C - Do...while loop
• C - Nested loop
• C - Infinite loop
• C - Break Statement
• C - Continue Statement
• C - goto Statement
• C - Functions
• C - Main Functions
• C - Return Statement
• C - Recursion
• C - Scope Rules
• C - Properties of Array
• C - Multi-Dimensional Arrays
• C - Passing Arrays to Function
• C - Return Array from Function
• C - Variable Length Arrays
• C - Pointers
• C - Pointer Arithmetics
• C - Passing Pointers to Functions
• C - Strings
• C - Array of Strings
• C - Structures
• C - Structures and Functions
• C - Arrays of Structures
• C - Pointers to Structures
• C - Self-Referential Structures
• C - Nested Structures
• C - Bit Fields
• C - Typedef
• C - Input & Output
• C - File I/O
• C - Preprocessors
• C - Header Files
• C - Type Casting
• C - Error Handling
• C - Variable Arguments
• C - Memory Management
• C - Command Line Arguments
• C Programming Resources
• C - Questions & Answers
• C - Quick Guide
• C - Useful Resources
• C - Discussion
• Selected Reading
• UPSC IAS Exams Notes
• Developer's Best Practices
• Questions and Answers
• Effective Resume Writing
• HR Interview Questions
• Computer Glossary

Assignment Operators in C

In C, the assignment operator stores a certain value in an already declared variable. A variable in C can be assigned the value in the form of a literal, another variable or an expression. The value to be assigned forms the right hand operand, whereas the variable to be assigned should be the operand to the left of = symbol, which is defined as a simple assignment operator in C. In addition, C has several augmented assignment operators.

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

Simple assignment operator (=)

The = operator is the most frequently used operator in C. As per ANSI C standard, all the variables must be declared in the beginning. Variable declaration after the first processing statement is not allowed. You can declare a variable to be assigned a value later in the code, or you can initialize it at the time of declaration.

You can use a literal, another variable or an expression in the assignment statement.

Once a variable of a certain type is declared, it cannot be assigned a value of any other type. In such a case the C compiler reports a type mismatch error.

In C, the expressions that refer to a memory location are called "lvalue" expressions. A lvalue may appear as either the left-hand or right-hand side of an assignment.

On the other hand, the term rvalue refers to a data value that is stored at some address in memory. A rvalue is an expression that cannot have a value assigned to it which means an rvalue may appear on the right-hand side but not on the left-hand side of an assignment.

Variables are lvalues and so they may appear on the left-hand side of an assignment. Numeric literals are rvalues and so they may not be assigned and cannot appear on the left-hand side. Take a look at the following valid and invalid statements −

Augmented assignment operators

In addition to the = operator, C allows you to combine arithmetic and bitwise operators with the = symbol to form augmented or compound assignment operator. The augmented operators offer a convenient shortcut for combining arithmetic or bitwise operation with assignment.

For example, the expression a+=b has the same effect of performing a+b first and then assigning the result back to the variable a.

Similarly, the expression a<<=b has the same effect of performing a<<b first and then assigning the result back to the variable a.

Here is a C program that demonstrates the use of assignment operators in C:

When you compile and execute the above program, it produces the following result −

Learn C practically and Get Certified .

Popular Tutorials

Popular examples, reference materials, learn c interactively, introduction.

• Getting Started with C
• Your First C Program
• C Variables, Constants and Literals
• C Data Types
• C Input Output (I/O)

C Programming Operators

Flow control.

C if...else Statement

• C while and do...while Loop
• C break and continue
• C switch Statement
• C goto Statement
• C Functions
• C User-defined functions
• Types of User-defined Functions in C Programming
• C Recursion
• C Storage Class

Programming Arrays

• C Multidimensional Arrays
• Pass arrays to a function in C

Programming Pointers

• Relationship Between Arrays and Pointers
• C Pass Addresses and Pointers
• C Dynamic Memory Allocation
• C Array and Pointer Examples

Programming Strings

• C Programming Strings
• String Manipulations In C Programming Using Library Functions
• String Examples in C Programming

Structure and Union

• C structs and Pointers
• C Structure and Function

Programming Files

• C File Handling
• C Files Examples

Additional Topics

• C Keywords and Identifiers

C Precedence And Associativity Of Operators

C Bitwise Operators

• C Preprocessor and Macros
• C Standard Library Functions

Bitwise Operators in C Programming

• Compute Quotient and Remainder
• Find the Size of int, float, double and char
• Make a Simple Calculator Using switch...case

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).

Example 1: Arithmetic Operators

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,

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

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 =

Example 3: Assignment Operators

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 .

Example 4: Relational Operators

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 .

Example 5: Logical Operators

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).

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.

Visit bitwise operator in C to learn more.

Other Operators

Comma operator.

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

The sizeof operator

The sizeof is a unary operator that returns the size of data (constants, variables, array, structure, etc).

Example 6: sizeof Operator

Other operators such as ternary operator ?: , reference operator & , dereference operator * and member selection operator  ->  will be discussed in later tutorials.

Table of Contents

• Arithmetic Operators
• Increment and Decrement Operators
• Assignment Operators
• Relational Operators
• Logical Operators
• sizeof Operator

Video: Arithmetic Operators in C

Sorry about that.

Related Tutorials

Home » Learn C Programming from Scratch » C Assignment Operators

C Assignment Operators

Summary : in this tutorial, you’ll learn about the C assignment operators and how to use them effectively.

Introduction to the C assignment operators

An assignment operator assigns the vale of the right-hand operand to the left-hand operand. The following example uses the assignment operator (=) to assign 1 to the counter variable:

After the assignmment, the counter variable holds the number 1.

The following example adds 1 to the counter and assign the result to the counter:

The = assignment operator is called a simple assignment operator. It assigns the value of the left operand to the right operand.

Besides the simple assignment operator, C supports compound assignment operators. A compound assignment operator performs the operation specified by the additional operator and then assigns the result to the left operand.

The following example uses a compound-assignment operator (+=):

The expression:

is equivalent to the following expression:

The following table illustrates the compound-assignment operators in C:

• A simple assignment operator assigns the value of the left operand to the right operand.
• A compound assignment operator performs the operation specified by the additional operator and then assigns the result to the left operand.

PrepBytes Blog

ONE-STOP RESOURCE FOR EVERYTHING RELATED TO CODING

Sign in to your account

Forgot your password?

Login via OTP

We will send you an one time password on your mobile number

An OTP has been sent to your mobile number please verify it below

Register with PrepBytes

Assignment operator in c.

Last Updated on June 23, 2023 by Prepbytes

This type of operator is employed for transforming and assigning values to variables within an operation. In an assignment operation, the right side represents a value, while the left side corresponds to a variable. It is essential that the value on the right side has the same data type as the variable on the left side. If this requirement is not fulfilled, the compiler will issue an error.

What is Assignment Operator in C language?

In C, the assignment operator serves the purpose of assigning a value to a variable. It is denoted by the equals sign (=) and plays a vital role in storing data within variables for further utilization in code. When using the assignment operator, the value present on the right-hand side is assigned to the variable on the left-hand side. This fundamental operation allows developers to store and manipulate data effectively throughout their programs.

Example of Assignment Operator in C

For example, consider the following line of code:

Types of Assignment Operators in C

Here is a list of the assignment operators that you can find in the C language:

Simple assignment operator (=): This is the basic assignment operator, which assigns the value on the right-hand side to the variable on the left-hand side.

Addition assignment operator (+=): This operator adds the value on the right-hand side to the variable on the left-hand side and assigns the result back to the variable.

x += 3; // Equivalent to x = x + 3; (adds 3 to the current value of "x" and assigns the result back to "x")

Subtraction assignment operator (-=): This operator subtracts the value on the right-hand side from the variable on the left-hand side and assigns the result back to the variable.

x -= 4; // Equivalent to x = x – 4; (subtracts 4 from the current value of "x" and assigns the result back to "x")

* Multiplication assignment operator ( =):** This operator multiplies the value on the right-hand side with the variable on the left-hand side and assigns the result back to the variable.

x = 2; // Equivalent to x = x 2; (multiplies the current value of "x" by 2 and assigns the result back to "x")

Division assignment operator (/=): This operator divides the variable on the left-hand side by the value on the right-hand side and assigns the result back to the variable.

x /= 2; // Equivalent to x = x / 2; (divides the current value of "x" by 2 and assigns the result back to "x")

Bitwise AND assignment (&=): The bitwise AND assignment operator "&=" performs a bitwise AND operation between the value on the left-hand side and the value on the right-hand side. It then assigns the result back to the left-hand side variable.

x &= 3; // Binary: 0011 // After bitwise AND assignment: x = 1 (Binary: 0001)

Bitwise OR assignment (|=): The bitwise OR assignment operator "|=" performs a bitwise OR operation between the value on the left-hand side and the value on the right-hand side. It then assigns the result back to the left-hand side variable.

x |= 3; // Binary: 0011 // After bitwise OR assignment: x = 7 (Binary: 0111)

Bitwise XOR assignment (^=): The bitwise XOR assignment operator "^=" performs a bitwise XOR operation between the value on the left-hand side and the value on the right-hand side. It then assigns the result back to the left-hand side variable.

x ^= 3; // Binary: 0011 // After bitwise XOR assignment: x = 6 (Binary: 0110)

Left shift assignment (<<=): The left shift assignment operator "<<=" shifts the bits of the value on the left-hand side to the left by the number of positions specified by the value on the right-hand side. It then assigns the result back to the left-hand side variable.

x <<= 2; // Binary: 010100 (Shifted left by 2 positions) // After left shift assignment: x = 20 (Binary: 10100)

Right shift assignment (>>=): The right shift assignment operator ">>=" shifts the bits of the value on the left-hand side to the right by the number of positions specified by the value on the right-hand side. It then assigns the result back to the left-hand side variable.

x >>= 2; // Binary: 101 (Shifted right by 2 positions) // After right shift assignment: x = 5 (Binary: 101)

Conclusion The assignment operator in C, denoted by the equals sign (=), is used to assign a value to a variable. It is a fundamental operation that allows programmers to store data in variables for further use in their code. In addition to the simple assignment operator, C provides compound assignment operators that combine arithmetic or bitwise operations with assignment, allowing for concise and efficient code.

FAQs related to Assignment Operator in C

Q1. Can I assign a value of one data type to a variable of another data type? In most cases, assigning a value of one data type to a variable of another data type will result in a warning or error from the compiler. It is generally recommended to assign values of compatible data types to variables.

Q2. What is the difference between the assignment operator (=) and the comparison operator (==)? The assignment operator (=) is used to assign a value to a variable, while the comparison operator (==) is used to check if two values are equal. It is important not to confuse these two operators.

Q3. Can I use multiple assignment operators in a single statement? No, it is not possible to use multiple assignment operators in a single statement. Each assignment operator should be used separately for assigning values to different variables.

Q4. Are there any limitations on the right-hand side value of the assignment operator? The right-hand side value of the assignment operator should be compatible with the data type of the left-hand side variable. If the data types are not compatible, it may lead to unexpected behavior or compiler errors.

Q5. Can I assign the result of an expression to a variable using the assignment operator? Yes, it is possible to assign the result of an expression to a variable using the assignment operator. For example, x = y + z; assigns the sum of y and z to the variable x.

Q6. What happens if I assign a value to an uninitialized variable? Assigning a value to an uninitialized variable will initialize it with the assigned value. However, it is considered good practice to explicitly initialize variables before using them to avoid potential bugs or unintended behavior.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Linked List
• Segment Tree
• Backtracking
• Dynamic Programming
• Greedy Algorithm
• Operating System
• Company Placement
• Interview Tips
• General Interview Questions
• Data Structure
• Other Topics
• Computational Geometry
• Game Theory

Related Post

Null character in c, ackermann function in c, median of two sorted arrays of different size in c, number is palindrome or not in c, implementation of queue using linked list in c, c program to replace a substring in a string.

Assignment and shorthand assignment operator in C

Quick links.

• Shorthand assignment

Assignment operator is used to assign value to a variable (memory location). There is a single assignment operator = in C. It evaluates expression on right side of = symbol and assigns evaluated value to left side the variable.

For example consider the below assignment table.

The RHS of assignment operator must be a constant, expression or variable. Whereas LHS must be a variable (valid memory location).

Shorthand assignment operator

C supports a short variant of assignment operator called compound assignment or shorthand assignment. Shorthand assignment operator combines one of the arithmetic or bitwise operators with assignment operator.

For example, consider following C statements.

The above expression a = a + 2 is equivalent to a += 2 .

Similarly, there are many shorthand assignment operators. Below is a list of shorthand assignment operators in C.

C Functions

C structures, c operators.

Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.

In the example below, we use the + operator to add together two values:

Although the + operator is often used to add together two values, like in the example above, it can also be used to add together a variable and a value, or a variable and another variable:

C divides the operators into the following groups:

• Arithmetic operators
• Assignment operators
• Comparison operators
• Logical operators
• Bitwise operators

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform common mathematical operations.

Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.

In the example below, we use the assignment operator ( = ) to assign the value 10 to a variable called x :

The addition assignment operator ( += ) adds a value to a variable:

A list of all assignment operators:

Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are used to compare two values (or variables). This is important in programming, because it helps us to find answers and make decisions.

The return value of a comparison is either 1 or 0 , which means true ( 1 ) or false ( 0 ). These values are known as Boolean values , and you will learn more about them in the Booleans and If..Else chapter.

Comparison operators are used to compare two values.

Note: The return value of a comparison is either true ( 1 ) or false ( 0 ).

In the following example, we use the greater than operator ( > ) to find out if 5 is greater than 3:

A list of all comparison operators:

Logical Operators

You can also test for true or false values with logical operators.

Logical operators are used to determine the logic between variables or values:

C Exercises

Test yourself with exercises.

Fill in the blanks to multiply 10 with 5 , and print the result:

Start the Exercise

COLOR PICKER

Contact Sales

If you want to use W3Schools services as an educational institution, team or enterprise, send us an e-mail: [email protected]

Report Error

If you want to report an error, or if you want to make a suggestion, send us an e-mail: [email protected]

Top Tutorials

Top references, top examples, get certified.

17 Oct Operators in C Programming

Operators perform operations by taking one or more values, to give another value. These operations are performed on variables and values. In this lesson, we will learn about operators in C Programming.

For example:

The types of operators are explained here with an example, where a = 5, b =10. The following are the operators in C Programming:

• Arithmetic Operators
• Assignment Operators
• Arithmetic Assignment Operators
• Relational/ Comparison Operators
• Logical Operators
• Unary Operators
• Conditional Operators

C Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators perform arithmetical operations, such as addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, etc.

The following example shows how to work with Arithmetic operators in C Programming,

Here’s the output,

C Assignment Operator

Use the Assignment Operator when you need to assign a value to a variable. Assignment means assigning the value of the right operand(s) to the left operand.

C Arithmetic Assignment Operators

Use the Arithmetic Assignment Operator when you need to perform arithmetic operations such as add, subtract, divide, multiply, etc and at the same time assign a value.

The following example shows how to work with Arithmetic Assignment Operators in C Programming,

C Relational/ Comparison Operators

Compare two values with relational operators, which are also known as Comparison Operators.

The following example shows how to work with Relational Operator in C Programming,

C Logical Operators

Logical operators combine conditional statements. For example, we’re considering Boolean variables a and b,

The following example shows how to work with Logical Operator in C Programming,

C Unary Operators

The following example shows how to work with Unary Operators in C Programming,

C  Conditional Operators

Conditional operator evaluates Boolean expressions, with three operands. It is also known as the ternary operator. The role is to assign a value to a variable, from two given set options.

Here’s how to use it,

The following example shows how to work with the Conditional Operator in C Programming,

Here’s the output,

In this lesson, we learned about Operators in C Programming. We saw how to work with Arithmetic, Unary, Relational, Arithmetic Assignment, and other operators.

If you liked the tutorial, spread the word and share the link and our website Studyopedia with others:

For Videos, Join Our YouTube Channel: Join Now

• C – First Program
• C – Comments
• C – Tokens
• C – Variables
• C – Constants
• C – Operators
• C – Decision-Making Statements
• C – Loops
• C – Arrays
• C – Strings

Studyopedia Editorial Staff

We work to create programming tutorials for all.

No Comments

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Discover more from Studyopedia

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

C Data Types

C operators.

• C Input and Output
• C Control Flow
• C Functions
• C Preprocessors

C File Handling

• C Cheatsheet

C Interview Questions

• C Programming Language Tutorial
• C Language Introduction
• Features of C Programming Language
• C Programming Language Standard
• C Hello World Program
• Compiling a C Program: Behind the Scenes
• Tokens in C
• Keywords in C

C Variables and Constants

• C Variables
• Constants in C
• Const Qualifier in C
• Different ways to declare variable as constant in C
• Scope rules in C
• Internal Linkage and External Linkage in C
• Global Variables in C
• Data Types in C
• Literals in C
• Escape Sequence in C
• Integer Promotions in C
• Character Arithmetic in C
• Type Conversion in C

C Input/Output

• Basic Input and Output in C
• Format Specifiers in C
• printf in C
• Scansets in C
• Formatted and Unformatted Input/Output functions in C with Examples
• Operators in C

Arithmetic Operators in C

• Unary operators in C
• Relational Operators in C
• Bitwise Operators in C
• C Logical Operators
• Assignment Operators in C
• Increment and Decrement Operators in C
• Conditional or Ternary Operator (?:) in C
• sizeof operator in C
• Operator Precedence and Associativity in C

C Control Statements Decision-Making

• Decision Making in C (if , if..else, Nested if, if-else-if )
• C - if Statement
• C if...else Statement
• C if else if ladder
• Switch Statement in C
• Using Range in switch Case in C
• while loop in C
• do...while Loop in C
• For Versus While
• Continue Statement in C
• Break Statement in C
• goto Statement in C
• User-Defined Function in C
• Parameter Passing Techniques in C
• Function Prototype in C
• How can I return multiple values from a function?
• main Function in C
• Implicit return type int in C
• Callbacks in C
• Nested functions in C
• Variadic functions in C
• _Noreturn function specifier in C
• Predefined Identifier __func__ in C
• C Library math.h Functions

C Arrays & Strings

• Properties of Array in C
• Multidimensional Arrays in C
• Initialization of Multidimensional Array in C
• Pass Array to Functions in C
• How to pass a 2D array as a parameter in C?
• What are the data types for which it is not possible to create an array?
• How to pass an array by value in C ?
• Strings in C
• Array of Strings in C
• What is the difference between single quoted and double quoted declaration of char array?
• C String Functions
• Pointer Arithmetics in C with Examples
• C - Pointer to Pointer (Double Pointer)
• Function Pointer in C
• How to declare a pointer to a function?
• Pointer to an Array | Array Pointer
• Difference between constant pointer, pointers to constant, and constant pointers to constants
• Pointer vs Array in C
• Dangling, Void , Null and Wild Pointers in C
• Near, Far and Huge Pointers in C
• restrict keyword in C

C User-Defined Data Types

• C Structures
• dot (.) Operator in C
• Structure Member Alignment, Padding and Data Packing
• Flexible Array Members in a structure in C
• Bit Fields in C
• Difference Between Structure and Union in C
• Anonymous Union and Structure in C
• Enumeration (or enum) in C

C Storage Classes

• Storage Classes in C
• extern Keyword in C
• Static Variables in C
• Initialization of static variables in C
• Static functions in C
• Understanding "volatile" qualifier in C | Set 2 (Examples)
• Understanding "register" keyword in C

C Memory Management

• Memory Layout of C Programs
• Dynamic Memory Allocation in C using malloc(), calloc(), free() and realloc()
• Difference Between malloc() and calloc() with Examples
• What is Memory Leak? How can we avoid?
• Dynamic Array in C
• How to dynamically allocate a 2D array in C?
• Dynamically Growing Array in C

C Preprocessor

• C Preprocessor Directives
• How a Preprocessor works in C?
• Header Files in C
• What’s difference between header files "stdio.h" and "stdlib.h" ?
• How to write your own header file in C?
• Macros and its types in C
• Interesting Facts about Macros and Preprocessors in C
• # and ## Operators in C
• How to print a variable name in C?
• Multiline macros in C
• Variable length arguments for Macros
• Branch prediction macros in GCC
• typedef versus #define in C
• Difference between #define and const in C?
• Basics of File Handling in C
• C fopen() function with Examples
• EOF, getc() and feof() in C
• fgets() and gets() in C language
• fseek() vs rewind() in C
• What is return type of getchar(), fgetc() and getc() ?
• Read/Write Structure From/to a File in C
• C Program to print contents of file
• C program to delete a file
• C Program to merge contents of two files into a third file
• What is the difference between printf, sprintf and fprintf?
• Difference between getc(), getchar(), getch() and getche()

Miscellaneous

• time.h header file in C with Examples
• Input-output system calls in C | Create, Open, Close, Read, Write
• Signals in C language
• Program error signals
• Socket Programming in C
• _Generics Keyword in C
• Multithreading in C
• C Programming Interview Questions (2024)
• Commonly Asked C Programming Interview Questions | Set 1
• Commonly Asked C Programming Interview Questions | Set 2
• Commonly Asked C Programming Interview Questions | Set 3

Arithmetic Operators are the type of operators in C that are used to perform mathematical operations in a C program. They can be used in programs to define expressions and mathematical formulas.

What are C Arithmetic Operators?

The C arithmetic operators are the symbols that are used to perform mathematical operations on operands. There are a total of 9 arithmetic operators in C to provide the basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.

Types of Arithmetic Operators in C

The C Arithmetic Operators are of two types based on the number of operands they work. These are as follows:

• Binary Arithmetic Operators
• Unary Arithmetic Operators

1. Binary Arithmetic Operators in C

The C binary arithmetic operators operate or work on two operands. C provides 5 Binary Arithmetic Operators for performing arithmetic functions which are as follows:

Example of Binary Arithmetic Operator in C

2. unary arithmetic operators in c.

The unary arithmetic operators operate or work with a single operand. In C, we have two unary arithmetic operators which are as follows:

Increment Operator in C

 The ‘++’ operator is used to increment the value of an integer. It can be used in two ways:

1. Pre-Increment

When placed before the variable name (also called the pre-increment operator), its value is incremented instantly. Consider the example:

This example can be expanded to

2. Post Increment

When it is placed after the variable name (also called post-increment operator), its value is preserved temporarily until the execution of this statement and it gets updated before the execution of the next statement. For example:

It can be expanded to

Decrement Operator in C

 The ‘–‘ operator is used to decrement the value of an integer. Just like the increment operator, the decrement operator can also be used in two ways:

1. Pre-Decrement

When placed before the variable name (also called the pre-decrement operator), its value is decremented instantly. For example, – – x .

2. Post Decrement

When it is placed after the variable name (also called post-decrement operator), its value is preserved temporarily until the execution of this statement and it gets updated before the execution of the next statement. For example, x – – .

Example of Unary Operators in C

Multiple operators in a single expression.

Till now, we have only seen expressions in which we have used a single operator in a single expression. What happens when we use multiple operators in a single expression? Let’s try to understand this with the help of the below example.

Explanation: The order of evaluation of the given expression is : ( ( 10 * 20 ) + (15 / 5 ) ) .

This is due to the Operator Precedence and Associativity concept in C language where the operators with higher precedence will be evaluated first. The operator precedence system helps to provide unambiguously expressions.

Examples of C Arithmetic Operators

Example 1: c program to find the area of a rectangle and triangle..

We will use the arithmetic operators for calculating the area and perimeter of the rectangle using the standard formula of each.

In this article, we discussed the arithmetic operators in C and how they are useful in performing both basic and complex calculations in the C program. These are one of the core concepts that build the foundation of the C language.

FAQs on C Arithmetic Operators

1. list all the arithmetic operators in c..

Below is the list of all the arithmetic operators in C language:

• ( + ) Addition Operator
• ( – ) Subtraction Operator
• ( * ) Multiplication Operator
• ( / ) Division Operator
• ( % ) Modulo Operator
• ( ++ ) Increment Operator
• ( — ) Decrement Operator
• ( + ) Unary Plus Operator
• ( – ) Unary Minus Operator

2. What is the difference between the unary minus and subtraction operators?

Although the unary minus and subtraction operator looks the same, their function is different from each other in the following ways:

• As the name suggests, the unary operator works on a single operator while the subtraction operator is a binary operator that works on two operands.
• The unary minus returns the negative of the value of its operand while the subtraction operator returns the difference between its two operands.

Related Articles:

  Quiz on Operators in C

Please Login to comment...

Similar reads.

• C-Operators

Improve your Coding Skills with Practice

What kind of Experience do you want to share?