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Operators

  • Operators are special symbols in Java that perform specific operations on one, two, or three operands, and then return a result.
  • Operands are the values or variables involved in the operation.

Types of Operators in Java

Java provides a rich set of operators to manipulate variables. These operators can be categorized into the following groups:

  1. Arithmetic Operators
  2. Relational Operators
  3. Logical Operators
  4. Assignment Operators
  5. Unary Operators
  6. Bitwise Operators
  7. Ternary Operator

1. Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform basic mathematical operations.

OperatorDescriptionExample
+Additiona + b
-Subtractiona - b
*Multiplicationa * b
/Divisiona / b
%Modulus (remainder)a % b

Example:

int a = 10;
int b = 5;
int sum = a + b; // sum is 15
int difference = a - b; // difference is 5
int product = a * b; // product is 50
int quotient = a / b; // quotient is 2
int remainder = a % b; // remainder is 0

2. Relational Operators

Relational operators compare two values and return a boolean result (true or false).

OperatorDescriptionExample
==Equal toa == b
!=Not equal toa != b
>Greater thana > b
<Less thana < b
>=Greater than or equal toa >= b
<=Less than or equal toa <= b

Example:

int a = 10;
int b = 5;
boolean result1 = a == b; // result1 is false
boolean result2 = a != b; // result2 is true
boolean result3 = a > b; // result3 is true
boolean result4 = a < b; // result4 is false
boolean result5 = a >= b; // result5 is true
boolean result6 = a <= b; // result6 is false

3. Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to combine multiple boolean expressions.

OperatorDescriptionExample
&&Logical ANDa && b
``
!Logical NOT!a

Example:

boolean x = true;
boolean y = false;
boolean result1 = x && y; // result1 is false
boolean result2 = x || y; // result2 is true
boolean result3 = !x; // result3 is false

4. Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.

OperatorDescriptionExample
=Assignmenta = 10
+=Add and assigna += 5
-=Subtract and assigna -= 5
*=Multiply and assigna *= 5
/=Divide and assigna /= 5
%=Modulus and assigna %= 5

Example:

int a = 10;
a += 5; // a is now 15
a -= 3; // a is now 12
a *= 2; // a is now 24
a /= 4; // a is now 6
a %= 3; // a is now 0

5. Unary Operators

Unary operators operate on a single operand to perform various operations.

OperatorDescriptionExample
+Unary plus+a
-Unary minus-a
++Incrementa++ or ++a
--Decrementa-- or --a
!Logical NOT!a

Example:

int a = 10;
int b = ++a; // a is 11, b is 11 (pre-increment)
int c = a--; // a is 10, c is 11 (post-decrement)
boolean d = !true; // d is false

6. Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators perform operations on the binary representations of integers.

OperatorDescriptionExample
&Bitwise ANDa & b
``Bitwise OR
^Bitwise XORa ^ b
~Bitwise complement~a
<<Left shifta << 2
>>Right shifta >> 2
>>>Unsigned right shifta >>> 2

Example:

int a = 5; // 0101 in binary
int b = 3; // 0011 in binary
int c = a & b; // c is 1 (0001 in binary)
int d = a | b; // d is 7 (0111 in binary)
int e = a ^ b; // e is 6 (0110 in binary)
int f = ~a; // f is -6 (inverts all bits)
int g = a << 1; // g is 10 (1010 in binary)
int h = a >> 1; // h is 2 (0010 in binary)
int i = a >>> 1; // i is 2 (0010 in binary)

7. Ternary Operator

The ternary operator is a shorthand for the if-else statement. It takes three operands.

OperatorDescriptionExample
? :Ternary (conditional) operatorcondition ? value1 : value2

Example:

int a = 10;
int b = 5;
int max = (a > b) ? a : b; // max is 10

Summary

Operators in Java are symbols that perform operations on variables and values. Here’s a quick recap of what we've covered:

  1. Arithmetic Operators: +, -, *, /, %

  2. Relational Operators: ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=

  3. Logical Operators: &&, ||, !

  4. Assignment Operators: =, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=

  5. Unary Operators: +, -, ++, --, !

  6. Bitwise Operators: &, |, ^, ~, <<, >>, >>>

  7. Ternary Operator: ? :