Operators are symbols that tell the interpreter to do a specific operation such as arithmetic, comparison, logic, etc.
Types of python operators
Python supports the following types of operators.
1) Arithmetic operators
2) Comparison operators (relational)
3) Assignment Operators
4) Logical operators
5) Bitwise Operators
6) Operators members
7) Identity Operators
1) Arithmetic operators
An arithmetic operator takes two operands as input, performs a calculation, and returns the result.
Consider the expression “a = 11 + 8”. Here, 11 and 8 are the operands, and “+” is the arithmetic operator. The result of the operation is stored in the variable a.
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| + Addition | Adds values on either side of the operator. | a + b = 19 |
| – Subtraction | Subtracts right hand operand from left hand operand. | a – b = 3 |
| * Multiplication | Multiplies values on either side of the operator | a * b = 88 |
| / Division | Divides left hand operand by right hand operand | 8/2 = 4 |
| % Modulus | Divides left hand operand by right hand operand and returns remainder | 8/2 = 0 |
| ** Exponent | Performs exponential (power) calculation on operators | 8**2 =8 to the power 2 |
| // | Floor Division – Performs a Floor Division operation | 11//2 = 5 and 11.0//2.0 = 5.0 |
2) Python Comparison Operators (Relational Operators):
These operators compare the values on both sides and decide on the relationship between the two. Relational operators return either True or False according to the condition.
Suppose variable a has 5 and variable b has 10, then –
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| == | If the values of two operands are equal, then the condition becomes true. | (a == b) is not true. |
| != | If values of two operands are not equal, then condition becomes true. | (a != b) is true. |
| <> | If values of two operands are not equal, then condition becomes true. | (a <> b) is true. This is similar to != operator. |
| > | If the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand, then condition becomes true. | (a > b) is not true. |
| < | If the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand, then condition becomes true. | (a < b) is true. |
| >= | If the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right operand, then condition becomes true. | (a >= b) is not true. |
| <= | If the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand, then condition becomes true. | (a <= b) is true. |
3) Python Assignment Operators
Suppose variable a has 5 and variable b has 10, then –
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| = | Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand | c = a + b assigns value of a + b into c |
| += Add AND | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | It takes modulus using two operands and assign the result to left operand | c %= a is equivalent to c = c % a |
| **= Exponent AND | Performs exponential (power) calculation on operators and assign value to the left operand | c **= a is equivalent to c = c ** a |
| //= Floor Division | It performs floor division on operators and assign value to the left operand | c //= a is equivalent to c = c // a |
4) Bitwise Python operators
Bit operators act on operands as if they were sequences of binary digits. They work piece by piece, hence their name.
The binary operator works on bits and performs a bit by bit operation. Suppose if a = 50; and b = 27; now in a binary format their values will be 110010 and 11011 respectively. The following table lists the bit operators supported by the Python language with one example, we use the two previous variables (a and b) as operands –
a= 0011 0010 and
b = 0001 1011
a&b = 0001 0010
a|b = 0011 1011
a^b = 0010 1001
~a = 1100 1101
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| & Binary AND | Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands | (a & b) = 18 (means 0001 0010) |
| | Binary OR | It copies a bit if it exists in either operand. | (a | b) = 59 (means 0011 1011) |
| ^ Binary XOR | It copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both. | (a ^ b) = 41 (means 0010 1001) |
| ~ Binary Ones Complement | It is unary and has the effect of ‘flipping’ bits. | (~a ) = (means 1100 1101 in 2’s complement form due to a signed binary number.) |
| << Binary Left Shift | The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand. | |
| >> Binary Right Shift | The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand. |
5) Python logic operators
The following logical operators are supported by the Python language. Suppose that variable a has 5 and variable b has 10, and then –
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| and Logical AND | If both the operands are true then condition becomes true. | (a and b) is true. |
| or Logical OR | If any of the two operands are non-zero then condition becomes true. | (a or b) is true. |
| not Logical NOT | Used to reverse the logical state of its operand. | Not(a and b) is false. |
6) Python Membership Operators
Python membership operators check membership in a sequence, such as strings, lists, or tuples. There are two membership operators as explained below –
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| in | Evaluates to true if it finds a variable in the specified sequence and false otherwise. | x in y, here in results in a 1 if x is a member of sequence y. |
| not in | Evaluates to true if it does not finds a variable in the specified sequence and false otherwise. | x not in y, here not in results in a 1 if x is not a member of sequence y. |
7) Python Identity Operators
Identity operators compare the memory locations of two objects. There are two identity operators that are explained below.
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| is | Evaluates to true if the variables on either side of the operator point to the same object and false otherwise. | x is y, here is results in 1 if id(x) equals id(y). |
| is not | Evaluates to false if the variables on either side of the operator point to the same object and true otherwise. | x is not y, here is not results in 1 if id(x) is not equal to id(y). |
Python Operators Precedence
The following table gives an overview of all operators, from the highest to the lowest.
| Sr.No. | Operator & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | ** Exponentiation (raise to the power) |
| 2 | ~ + – Complement, unary plus and minus (method names for the last two are +@ and -@) |
| 3 | * / % // Multiply, divide, modulo and floor division |
| 4 | + – Addition and subtraction |
| 5 | >> << Right and left bitwise shift |
| 6 | & Bitwise ‘AND’ |
| 7 | ^ | Bitwise exclusive `OR’ and regular `OR’ |
| 8 | <= < > >= Comparison operators |
| 9 | <> == != Equality operators |
| 10 | is is not Identity operators |
| 11 | in not in Membership operators |
| 12 | not or and Logical operators |
