In C++ language, certain symbols tell the compiler to perform specific mathematic and logical operations on the variables. These symbols are called “Operators”.

For example, consider this statement :

 a = b + c;

In this statement, + is the operator and b & c are the operands. Therefore, in short, operators operate the operands.In this section, we will take a look at the different types of operators :

• Arithmetic operators

• Relational operators

• Logical operators

• Bitwise operators

• Assignment operators

• Misc. operators

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used in C++ programming to perform mathematical operations on the operands.The list of arithmetic operators in C++ are as follows. Let’s assume we have two variables a = 16, b = 4.

Example Program

 #include <iostream>
 
 int main()
 {
 int a = 16;
 int b = 4;
 cout << "The sum of a and b is : " << a + b << '\n';
 cout << "The difference of a and b is : " << a - b << '\n';
 cout << "The product of a and b is : " << a * b << '\n';
 cout << "The division of a and b is : " << a / b << '\n';
 cout << "The modulus of a and b is : " << a % b << '\n';
 }

The output of this program will be :

Types of Arithmetic Operators

There are two types of arithmetic operators :

Unary Operators

These operators work with only one operand. ++ (increment), -- (decrement) are the unary operators in C++ programming language.

Increment Operator : The ++ unary operator increments the value of an integer. The unary operator can be placed either before the operand or after the operand.

Example

++a –By adding the operator in front of the operand, the value is incremented by 1 immediately.

a++ -When the operator is behind the operand, the value is incremented by 1 only before the execution of the next statement.

Decrement Operator – The -- unary operator decrements the value of the integer. The decrement operator works the same way as the increment operator.

Binary Operators –

Binary operators work with two operands (+, -, *, /, %)

Relational Operators

Relational operators compare the two operand values to see if they are either equal, greater than the other or lesser than the other.The list of relational operators in C++ are as follows. Let’s assume we have two variables a = 5, b = 10.

Example Program

#include <iostream>
 
 int main()
 {
 int a = 5;
 int b = 10;
 cout << "Equivalent check : " << (a == b) << '\n';
 cout << "Not Equivalent check : " << (a != b) << '\n';
 cout << "Greater than check : " << (a > b) << '\n';
 cout << "Lesser than check : " << (a < b) << '\n';
 cout << "Greater than or equal to check : " << (a >= b) << '\n';
 cout << "Lesser than or equal to check : " << (a <= b) << '\n';
 }

The output of this program will be :

Logical Operators

Logical operators combine two or more different conditions and give the result.The list of logical operators in C++ are as follows. Let’s assume we have four variables a = 10, b = 5, c = 2, d = 4. The conditions are (a > b), (c==d)

Example Program

#include <iostream>
 
 int main()
 {
 int a = 10;
 int b = 5;
 int c = 2;
 int d = 4;
 cout << "Logical AND check : " << ((a > b) && (c == d)) << '\n';
 cout << "Logical OR check : " << ((a > b) || (c == d)) << '\n';
 cout << "Logical NOT check : " << !((a > b) && (c == d)) << '\n';
 }

The output of this program will be :

To remember the logical operators easily, you can remember this table

Bitwise Operators

The bitwise operators can be used to perform bit-level operations on the operands. The bit-level operations will be performed on the binary value of the variables.The list of bitwise operators in C++ are as follows. Let’s assume we have two variables a = 14, b = 4. The binary of 14 is 1110 and binary of 4 is 0100.

Example Program

#include<iostream>
 
 int main()
 {
 int a = 14;
 int b = 4;
 cout << "Binary AND check : " << (a & b) << '\n';
 cout << "Binary OR check : " << (a | b) << '\n';
 cout << "Binary XOR check : " << (a ^ b) << '\n';
 cout << "Binary One's Complement' check : " << ~a << '\n';
 cout << "Binary Left Shift check : " << (a << 2) << '\n';
 cout << "Binary Right Shift check : " << (a >> 2) << '\n';
 }

The output of this program will be :

Assignment Operators

Assignment operators will assign the variable with values. As per the syntax, the left side of the operator is the variable and the right side of the operator is the value that is to be assigned to the variable. For example, x = 2; here

• x is the variable

• 2 is the value

• = is the assignment operator

Important note : The value on the right side of the operator should be the same as the data-type of the variable on the left. If the data type of the variable is integer (int), the value has to be an integer. If you provide the value as a character, the compiler will display an error when you compile the program.The list of assignment operators in C++ are as follows.

Example Program

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
int a = 14;
int b = 4;
int c = a + b;
cout << "Equal to check : " << c << '\n';
cout << "A+=B check : " << (a += b) << '\n';
cout << "A-=B check : " << (a -= b) << '\n';
cout << "A*=B check : " << (a *= b) << '\n';
cout << "A/=B check : " << (a /= b) << '\n';
cout << "A%=B check : " << (a %= b) << '\n';
cout << "A<<=2 check : " << (a <<= 2) << '\n';
cout << "A>>=2 check : " << (a >>= 2) << '\n';
cout << "A&=2 check : " << (a &= 2) << '\n';
cout << "A|=2 check : " << (a |= 2) << '\n';
cout << "A^=2 check : " << (a ^= 2) << '\n';
}

The output of this program will be :

Miscellaneous Operators

In addition to the above operators, there are few miscellaneous operators in C++. The following are the list of misc. operators :

Example Program

#include <iostream>
 
 int main()
 {
 int a = (1, 2);
 int b[] = {1, 2, 3, 44, 55, 66, 777, 888, 999, 1234, 2345, 3456, 45678, 56789};
 int x = 10;
 int y = 15;
 cout << "Size of Integer : " << sizeof(int) << '\n';
 cout << "Size of Character : " << sizeof(char) << '\n';
 cout << "Size of Double : " << sizeof(double) << '\n';
 cout << "Size of Float : " << sizeof(float) << '\n';
 cout << "Number of elements in Array is : " << sizeof(b)/sizeof(b[0]) << '\n';
 cout << "Value of variable a is : " << a << '\n';
 x > y ? cout << "The value of x (10) is greater than y (15)" : cout << "The value of y (15) is greater than x (10)";
 }

The output of this program will be :

Summary

In this section, we have covered the basics of the different operators in C++ with examples.