Arithmetic Operators in C Programming

Operators in C

What is Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic Operators in C are used to performing arithmetic or mathematical operations on operands.

Arithmetic Operators are of two types:

• Unary Operators - Operators that operates or works with a single operand are called unary operators. For example: (++ , --).
• Binary Operators - Operators that operates or works with two operands are called binary operators. For example: (+, –, *, /, %).

Unary Operators

There are 2 types of Unary operators:

• Increment Operator ++
• Decrement Operator --

Increment Operator ++

The Increment Operator is used to increased the value of the variable by 1.

There are 2 types of Increment Operators and they are:

• Pre-Increment
• Post-Increment

Pre-Increment

The Pre-Increment operator is used to increase the value of a variable by 1 before using it in an expression. In the Pre-Increment, value is first increased and then used inside the expression. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y;
y=++x;      // value of x is increase by 1 and then stored in y

In the example above the value of x which is 5 is first increase by 1 and then stored in x. So the result of y is 6.

Post-Increment

The Post-Increment operator is used to increase the value of the variable by 1 after executing the expression completely in which post-increment is used. In the Post-Increment, value is first used in an expression and then increased by 1. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y;
y=x++;      // value of x is stored in y first and after that increase by 1

In the example above the value of x which is 5 is first stored in y and after that increased by 1. So the result of y is 5 and the value of x becomes 6.

Decrement Operator --

Decrement Operator is used to decrease the value of the variable by 1.

There are 2 types of Decrement Operators and they are:

• Pre-Decrement
• Post-Decrement

Pre-Decrement

The Pre-Decrement operator is used to decrease the value of a variable by 1 before using it in an expression. In the Pre-Decrement, value is first decreased by 1 and then used inside the expression. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y;
y=--x;      // value of x is decrease by 1 and then stored in y

In the example above the value of x which is 5 is first decrease by 1 and then stored in x. So the result of y is 4.

Post-Decrement

The Post-Decrement operator is used to decrease the value of the variable by 1 after executing the expression completely in which post-decrement is used. In the Post-Decrement, value is first used in an expression and then decreased by 1. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y;
y=x--;      // value of x is stored in y first and after that decrease by 1

In the example above the value of x which is 5 is first stored in y and after that decreased by 1. So the result of y is 5 and the value of x becomes 4.

Binary Operators

There are 5 types of binary operators:

• + Addition
• - Subtraction
• * Multiplication
• / Division
• % Modulus

+ Addition Operator

+ Addition Operator is used for adding the value of two or more variables. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y=2, z;
z=x+y;      // value of z becomes 7

In the example above the value of x and y is first added and then stored in z. So the result of z is 7.

- Subtraction Operator

- Subtraction Operator is used for subtracting the value of two or more variables. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y=2, z;
z=x-y;      // value of z becomes 3

In the example above the value of y is subtracted from x and the final result is stored in z. So the result of z is 3.

* Multiplication Operator

* Multiplication Operator is used for multiplying the value of two or more variables. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y=2, z;
z=x*y;      // value of z becomes 10

In the example above the value of x and y is first multiplied and then stored in z. So the result of z is 10.

/ Division Operator

/ Division Operator is used for dividing the value of two or more variables and the quotient is returned as the result of the division. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y=2, z;
z=x/y;      // value of z becomes 2 which is a quotient

In the example above the value of x and y is first divided and then stored the quotient in z. So the result of z is 2. Here x and y both are integer variable so the result of their division will be in integer only.

% Modulus Operator

% Modulus Operator is used for dividing the value of two or more variables and the remainder is returned as the result of the division. Let's see the example for more understanding.

int x=5, y=2, z;
z=x%y;      // value of z becomes 1 which is a remainder

In the example above the value of x and y is first divided and then stored the remainder in z. So the result of z is 1.