C# - Operators

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical manipulations. C# has rich set of built-in operators and provides the following type of operators:

• Arithmetic Operators
• Relational Operators
• Logical Operators
• Bitwise Operators
• Assignment Operators
• Misc Operators

This tutorial explains the arithmetic, relational, logical, bitwise, assignment, and other operators one by one.

Arithmetic Operators

Following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by C#. Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then:

Operator	Description	Example
+	Adds two operands	A + B = 30
-	Subtracts second operand from the first	A - B = -10
*	Multiplies both operands	A * B = 200
/	Divides numerator by de-numerator	B / A = 2
%	Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division	B % A = 0
++	Increment operator increases integer value by one	A++ = 11
--	Decrement operator decreases integer value by one	A-- = 9

Example

The following example demonstrates all the arithmetic operators available in C#:

using System;
namespace OperatorsAppl 
{
   class Program 
   { 
      static void Main(string[] args) 
      { 
         int a = 21;
         int b = 10;
         int c;

         c = a + b;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         c = a - b;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         c = a * b;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         c = a / b;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         c = a % b;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         c = a++;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 6 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         c = a--;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 7 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Value of c is 31
Line 2 - Value of c is 11
Line 3 - Value of c is 210
Line 4 - Value of c is 2
Line 5 - Value of c is 1
Line 6 - Value of c is 22
Line 7 - Value of c is 20

Relational Operators

Following table shows all the relational operators supported by C#. Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20, then:

Operator	Description	Example
==	Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not, if yes then condition becomes true.	(A == B) is not true.
!=	Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not, if values are not equal then condition becomes true.	(A != B) is true.
>	Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true.	(A > B) is not true.
<	Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true.	(A < B) is true.
>=	Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true.	(A >= B) is not true.
<=	Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true.	(A <= B) is true.

Example

The following example demonstrates all the relational operators available in C#:

using System;
class Program
{
   static void Main(string[] args)
   {
      int a = 21;
      int b = 10;
      
      if (a == b)
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - a is equal to b");
      }
      else 
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - a is not equal to b");
      }
      
      if (a < b)
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - a is less than b");
      }
      else
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - a is not less than b");
      }
      
      if (a > b)
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - a is greater than b");
      }
      else
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - a is not greater than b");
      }
      /* Lets change value of a and b */
      a = 5;
      b = 20;
      
      if (a <= b) 
      { 
         Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - a is either less than or equal to  b");
      }
      
      if (b >= a)
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Line 5-b is either greater than or equal to b");
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - a is not equal to b
Line 2 - a is not less than b
Line 3 - a is greater than b
Line 4 - a is either less than or equal to b
Line 5 - b is either greater than or equal to b

Logical Operators

Following table shows all the logical operators supported by C#. Assume variable A holds Boolean value true and variable B holds Boolean value false, then:

Operator	Description	Example
&&	Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non zero then condition becomes true.	(A && B) is false.
||	Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non zero then condition becomes true.	(A || B) is true.
!	Called Logical NOT Operator. Use to reverses the logical state of its operand. If a condition is true then Logical NOT operator will make false.	!(A && B) is true.

Example

The following example demonstrates all the logical operators available in C#:

using System;
namespace OperatorsAppl 
{
   class Program 
   {
      static void Main(string[] args) 
      {
         bool a = true; 
         bool b = true;
         
         if (a && b)
         {
            Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - Condition is true");
         }
         
         if (a || b)
         {
            Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - Condition is true");
         }
         /* lets change the value of  a and b */
         a = false;
         b = true;
         
         if (a && b)
         {
            Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - Condition is true");
         }
         else
         {
            Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - Condition is not true");
         }
         
         if (!(a && b))
         {
            Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - Condition is true");
         }
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Condition is true
Line 2 - Condition is true
Line 3 - Condition is not true
Line 4 - Condition is true

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit by bit operation. The truth tables for &, |, and ^ are as follows:

p	q	p & q	p | q	p ^ q
0	0	0	0	0
0	1	0	1	1
1	1	1	1	0
1	0	0	1	1

Assume if A = 60; and B = 13; then in the binary format they are as follows:

A = 0011 1100

B = 0000 1101

-----------------

A&B = 0000 1100

A|B = 0011 1101

A^B = 0011 0001

~A  = 1100 0011

The Bitwise operators supported by C# are listed in the following table. Assume variable A holds 60 and variable B holds 13, then:

Operator	Description	Example
&	Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands.	(A & B) = 12, which is 0000 1100
|	Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand.	(A | B) = 61, which is 0011 1101
^	Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both.	(A ^ B) = 49, which is 0011 0001
~	Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits.	(~A ) = 61, which is 1100 0011 in 2's complement due to a signed binary number.
<<	Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	A << 2 = 240, which is 1111 0000
>>	Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	A >> 2 = 15, which is 0000 1111

The Bitwise operators supported by C# are listed in the following table. Assume variable A holds 60 and variable B holds 13, then:

Operator	Description	Example
&	Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands.	(A & B) = 12, which is 0000 1100
|	Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand.	(A | B) = 61, which is 0011 1101
^	Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both.	(A ^ B) = 49, which is 0011 0001
~	Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits.	(~A ) = 61, which is 1100 0011 in 2's complement due to a signed binary number.
<<	Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	A << 2 = 240, which is 1111 0000
>>	Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	A >> 2 = 15, which is 0000 1111

Example

The following example demonstrates all the bitwise operators available in C#:

using System;
namespace OperatorsAppl
{
   class Program
   {
      static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         int a = 60;            /* 60 = 0011 1100 */ 
         int b = 13;            /* 13 = 0000 1101 */
         int c = 0; 
         
         c = a & b;             /* 12 = 0000 1100 */ 
         Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - Value of c is {0}", c );
         
         c = a | b;             /* 61 = 0011 1101 */
         Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         
         c = a ^ b;             /* 49 = 0011 0001 */
         Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         
         c = ~a;                /*-61 = 1100 0011 */
         Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         
         c = a << 2;      /* 240 = 1111 0000 */
         Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         
         c = a >> 2;      /* 15 = 0000 1111 */
         Console.WriteLine("Line 6 - Value of c is {0}", c);
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - Value of c is 12
Line 2 - Value of c is 61
Line 3 - Value of c is 49
Line 4 - Value of c is -61
Line 5 - Value of c is 240
Line 6 - Value of c is 15

Assignment Operators

There are following assignment operators supported by C#:

Operator	Description	Example
=	Simple assignment operator, Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand	C = A + B assigns value of A + B into C
+=	Add AND assignment operator, It adds right operand to the left operand and assign the result to left operand	C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
-=	Subtract AND assignment operator, It subtracts right operand from the left operand and assign the result to left operand	C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
*=	Multiply AND assignment operator, It multiplies right operand with the left operand and assign the result to left operand	C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
/=	Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with the right operand and assign the result to left operand	C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
%=	Modulus AND assignment operator, It takes modulus using two operands and assign the result to left operand	C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
<<=	Left shift AND assignment operator	C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2
>>=	Right shift AND assignment operator	C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2
&=	Bitwise AND assignment operator	C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2
^=	bitwise exclusive OR and assignment operator	C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2
|=	bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator	C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2

Example

The following example demonstrates all the assignment operators available in C#:

using System;
namespace OperatorsAppl 
{
   class Program
   {
      static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         int a = 21;
         int c;
         c = a;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 1 - =  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c += a;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 2 - += Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c -= a;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 3 - -=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c *= a;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 4 - *=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c /= a;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 5 - /=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c = 200;
         c %= a;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 6 - %=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c <<= 2;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 7 - <<=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c >>= 2;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 8 - >>=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c &= 2;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 9 - &=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c ^= 2;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 10 - ^=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         
         c |= 2;
         Console.WriteLine("Line 11 - |=  Value of c = {0}", c);
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Line 1 - = Value of c = 21
Line 2 - += Value of c = 42
Line 3 - -= Value of c = 21
Line 4 - *= Value of c = 441
Line 5 - /= Value of c = 21
Line 6 - %= Value of c = 11
Line 7 - <<= Value of c = 44
Line 8 - >>= Value of c = 11
Line 9 - &= Value of c = 2
Line 10 - ^= Value of c = 0
Line 11 - |= Value of c = 2

Miscillaneous Operators

There are few other important operators including sizeof, typeof and ? :supported by C#.

Operator	Description	Example
sizeof()	Returns the size of a data type.	sizeof(int), returns 4.
typeof()	Returns the type of a class.	typeof(StreamReader);
&	Returns the address of an variable.	&a; returns actual address of the variable.
*	Pointer to a variable.	*a; creates pointer named 'a' to a variable.
? :	Conditional Expression	If Condition is true ? Then value X : Otherwise value Y
is	Determines whether an object is of a certain type.	If( Ford is Car) // checks if Ford is an object of the Car class.
as	Cast without raising an exception if the cast fails.	Object obj = new StringReader("Hello"); StringReader r = obj as StringReader;

Example

using System;
namespace OperatorsAppl 
{
   class Program
   {
      static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         /* example of sizeof operator */
         Console.WriteLine("The size of int is {0}", sizeof(int));
         Console.WriteLine("The size of short is {0}", sizeof(short));
         Console.WriteLine("The size of double is {0}", sizeof(double));
         
         /* example of ternary operator */
         int a, b;
         a = 10;
         b = (a == 1) ? 20 : 30;
         Console.WriteLine("Value of b is {0}", b);

         b = (a == 10) ? 20 : 30;
         Console.WriteLine("Value of b is {0}", b);
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

The size of int is 4
The size of short is 2
The size of double is 8
Value of b is 30
Value of b is 20

Operator Precedence in C#

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This affects evaluation of an expression. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the multiplication operator has higher precedence than the addition operator.

For example x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has higher precedence than +, so the first evaluation takes place for 3*2 and then 7 is added into it.

Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators are evaluated first.

Category	Operator	Associativity
Postfix	() [] -> . ++ - -	Left to right
Unary	+ - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeof	Right to left
Multiplicative	* / %	Left to right
Additive	+ -	Left to right
Shift	<< >>	Left to right
Relational	< <= > >=	Left to right
Equality	== !=	Left to right
Bitwise AND	&	Left to right
Bitwise XOR	^	Left to right
Bitwise OR	|	Left to right
Logical AND	&&	Left to right
Logical OR	||	Left to right
Conditional	?:	Right to left
Assignment	= += -= *= /= %=>>= <<= &= ^= |=	Right to left
Comma	,	Left to right

Example

using System;
namespace OperatorsAppl
{
   class Program
   {
      static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         int a = 20;
         int b = 10;
         int c = 15;
         int d = 5;
         int e;
         e = (a + b) * c / d;     // ( 30 * 15 ) / 5
         Console.WriteLine("Value of (a + b) * c / d is : {0}", e);

         e = ((a + b) * c) / d;   // (30 * 15 ) / 5
         Console.WriteLine("Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is  : {0}", e);

         e = (a + b) * (c / d);   // (30) * (15/5)
         Console.WriteLine("Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is  : {0}", e);

         e = a + (b * c) / d;    //  20 + (150/5)
         Console.WriteLine("Value of a + (b * c) / d is  : {0}", e);
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Value of (a + b) * c / d is : 90
Value of ((a + b) * c) / d is  : 90
Value of (a + b) * (c / d) is  : 90
Value of a + (b * c) / d is  : 50