2.2) C Operators and expressions

Operators and expressions are crucial aspects of C programming, as they allow you to perform computations and manipulate data.

They form the building blocks for creating meaningful and dynamic programs.

Let’s explore into these concepts in detail.

Operators:

Operators are symbols that represent operations to be performed on one or more operands. C provides a wide range of operators that can be categorized into different groups:

Arithmetic Operators:

• + (Addition): Adds two operands.
• - (Subtraction): Subtracts the second operand from the first.
• * (Multiplication): Multiplies two operands.
• / (Division): Divides the first operand by the second.
• % (Modulus): Returns the remainder of the division.

Relational Operators:

• == (Equal to): Checks if two operands are equal.
• != (Not equal to): Checks if two operands are not equal.
• < (Less than): Checks if the first operand is less than the second.
• > (Greater than): Checks if the first operand is greater than the second.
• <= (Less than or equal to): Checks if the first operand is less than or equal to the second.
• >= (Greater than or equal to): Checks if the first operand is greater than or equal to the second.

Logical Operators:

• && (Logical AND): Returns true if both operands are true.
• || (Logical OR): Returns true if at least one operand is true.
• ! (Logical NOT): Returns true if the operand is false and vice versa.

Assignment Operators:

• = (Assignment): Assigns the value of the right operand to the left operand.
• +=, -=, *=, /=, %=: Performs the specified operation and assigns the result to the left operand.

Increment and Decrement Operators:

• ++ (Increment): Increases the value of the operand by 1.
• -- (Decrement): Decreases the value of the operand by 1.

Bitwise Operators:

• & (Bitwise AND)
• | (Bitwise OR)
• ^ (Bitwise XOR)
• ~ (Bitwise NOT)
• << (Left shift)
• >> (Right shift)

Conditional (Ternary) Operator:

• condition ? expression1 : expression2: Evaluates the condition and returns either expression1 or expression2 based on the condition.

Expressions:

An expression is a combination of operators, operands, and constants that yields a result. Expressions can be used for calculations, comparisons, and various other operations. Here are some examples of expressions:

int x = 5, y = 10, z;
z = x + y;         // Arithmetic expression
if (z > 15) {      // Relational expression
    printf("Z is greater than 15\n");
}
int a = (x > y) ? x : y;  // Conditional expression

Expressions can be as simple as a single variable or as complex as a combination of various operators and operands.

Examples of Operators and Expressions in C

Here are examples demonstrating the use of various operators and expressions in C:

Arithmetic Operators:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a = 10, b = 5;
    int sum = a + b;
    int difference = a - b;
    int product = a * b;
    int quotient = a / b;
    int remainder = a % b;

    printf("Sum: %d\n", sum);            // Output: Sum: 15
    printf("Difference: %d\n", difference);  // Output: Difference: 5
    printf("Product: %d\n", product);      // Output: Product: 50
    printf("Quotient: %d\n", quotient);    // Output: Quotient: 2
    printf("Remainder: %d\n", remainder);  // Output: Remainder: 0

    return 0;
}

Relational and Logical Operators:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int x = 5, y = 10;

    if (x == y) {
        printf("x is equal to y\n");
    } else if (x != y) {
        printf("x is not equal to y\n");
    }

    if (x > 0 && y > 0) {
        printf("Both x and y are positive\n");
    }

    if (x > 0 || y > 0) {
        printf("At least one of x or y is positive\n");
    }

    if (!(x > 0)) {
        printf("x is not positive\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

Assignment and Increment/Decrement Operators:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a = 5, b = 10;

    a += 2;     // Equivalent to a = a + 2;
    b *= 3;     // Equivalent to b = b * 3;

    printf("a: %d\n", a);  // Output: a: 7
    printf("b: %d\n", b);  // Output: b: 30

    int count = 0;
    count++;     // Increment by 1
    count--;     // Decrement by 1

    printf("Count: %d\n", count);  // Output: Count: 0

    return 0;
}

Conditional (Ternary) Operator:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int x = 5, y = 10;
    int max = (x > y) ? x : y;

    printf("Maximum: %d\n", max);  // Output: Maximum: 10

    return 0;
}

Bitwise Operators:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a = 5, b = 3;
    int bitwiseAnd = a & b;
    int bitwiseOr = a | b;
    int bitwiseXor = a ^ b;
    int bitwiseNot = ~a;
    int leftShift = a << 2;
    int rightShift = a >> 1;

    printf("Bitwise AND: %d\n", bitwiseAnd);     // Output: Bitwise AND: 1
    printf("Bitwise OR: %d\n", bitwiseOr);       // Output: Bitwise OR: 7
    printf("Bitwise XOR: %d\n", bitwiseXor);     // Output: Bitwise XOR: 6
    printf("Bitwise NOT: %d\n", bitwiseNot);     // Output: Bitwise NOT: -6
    printf("Left Shift: %d\n", leftShift);       // Output: Left Shift: 20
    printf("Right Shift: %d\n", rightShift);     // Output: Right Shift: 2

    return 0;
}