What is C# Operators?
An operator is simply a symbol for performing operations. Many types of operations may be available, such as arithmetic, logical, bitwise etc.
The following types of operators are available in C# language for different types of operation.
- Arithmetic Operators
- Relational Operators
- Logical Operators
- Bitwise Operators
- Assignment Operators
- Unary Operators
- Ternary Operators
- Misc Operators
Arithmetic Operators
The table below demonstrates all C# supported arithmetic operators. Assume that variable A is 20 and variable B is 30.
| Operator | Description | Example |
| + | Adds two operands | A + B = 50 |
| - | Subtracts second operand from the first | A - B = -10 |
| * | Multiplies both operands | A * B = 600 |
| / | Divides numerator by de-numerator | B / A = 1.5 |
| % | Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division | B % A = 0 |
| ++ | Increment operator increases integer value by one | A++ = 21 |
| -- | Decrement operator decreases integer value by one | A-- = 19 |
Relational Operators
The table below demonstrates all C# supported relation operators. Assume that variable A is 20 and variable B is 30.
| Opertaor | 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. |
Logical Operators
The table below demonstrates all C# supported Logical operators. Assume that variable A is 20 and variable B is 30.
| 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. |
Bitwise Operators
The operator works on bits and perform bit by bit operation. Assume that variable A is 20 and variable B is 30. The
truth tables are as follows for &, |, and ^
| 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 that A = 60, and B = 13, then, they are as follows in binary format:
A = 0011 1100
B = 0000 1101
| A&B | 0000 1100 |
| A|B | 0011 1101 |
| A^B | 0011 0001 |
| ~A | 1100 0011 |
The table below demonstrates all C# supported Logical operators. Assume that variable A is 60 and variable B is 13.
| Operators | Descriptions | 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 |
Assignment Operators
The table below demonstrates all C# supported Assignment operators.
| 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 |
Miscellaneous Operators
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; |
Precedence of Operators in C#
The operator precedence indicates which operator are first and next evaluated. The association specifies the direction of the operators to measure, either left-to-right or right-to-left.
For Example:
int data=20+5*5
The variable "data" will contain 35 as * (multiplicative operator) is evaluated before + (additive operator).
C # operators ' precedence and association are provided below.
| Operator | Description | Example |
| 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 |