Java Operators

Java Operators

Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.

In the example below, we use the + operator to add together two values:

Example

int x = 100 + 50;

Although the + operator is often used to add together two values, like in the example above, it can also be used to add together a variable and a value, or a variable and another variable:

Example

int sum1 = 100 + 50;    // 150 (100 + 50)
int sum2 = sum1 + 250;  // 400 (150 + 250)
int sum3 = sum2 + sum2;  // 800 (400 + 400)

Java divides the operators into the following groups:

• Arithmetic operators
• Assignment operators
• Comparison operators
• Logical operators
• Bitwise operators

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform common mathematical operations.

Operator	Name	Description	Example
+	Addition	Adds together two values	x + y
-	Subtraction	Subtracts one value from another	x - y
*	Multiplication	Multiplies two values	x * y
/	Division	Divides one value by another	x / y
%	Modulus	Returns the division remainder	x % y
++	Increment	Increases the value of a variable by 1	++x
--	Decrement	Decreases the value of a variable by 1	--x

Java Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.

In the example below, we use the assignment operator (=) to assign the value 10 to a variable called x:

Example

int x = 10;

The addition assignment operator (+=) adds a value to a variable:

Example

int x = 10;
x += 5;

 A list of all assignment operators:

Operator	Example	Same As
=	x = 5	x = 5
+=	x += 3	x = x + 3
-=	x -= 3	x = x - 3
*=	x *= 3	x = x * 3
/=	x /= 3	x = x / 3
%=	x %= 3	x = x % 3
&=	x &= 3	x = x & 3
|=	x |= 3	x = x | 3
^=	x ^= 3	x = x ^ 3
>>=	x >>= 3	x = x >> 3
<<=	x <<= 3	x = x << 3

 

Java Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are used to compare two values:

Operator	Name	Example
==	Equal to	x == y
!=	Not equal	x != y
>	Greater than	x > y
<	Less than	x < y
>=	Greater than or equal to	x >= y
<=	Less than or equal to	x <= y

 

Java Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to determine the logic between variables or values:

Operator	Name	Description	Example
&&	Logical and	Returns true if both statements are true	x < 5 &&  x < 10
||	Logical or	Returns true if one of the statements is true	x < 5 || x < 4
!	Logical not	Reverse the result, returns false if the result is true	!(x < 5 && x < 10)

 

Java Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators are used to perform binary logic with the bits of an integer or long integer.

Operator	Description	Example	Same as	Result	Decimal
&	AND - Sets each bit to 1 if both bits are 1	5 & 1	0101 & 0001	0001	1
|	OR - Sets each bit to 1 if any of the two bits is 1	5 | 1	0101 | 0001	0101	5
~	NOT - Inverts all the bits	~ 5	~0101	1010	10
^	XOR - Sets each bit to 1 if only one of the two bits is 1	5 ^ 1	0101 ^ 0001	0100	4
<<	Zero-fill left shift - Shift left by pushing zeroes in from the right and letting the leftmost bits fall off	9 << 1	1001 << 1	0010	2
>>	Signed right shift - Shift right by pushing copies of the leftmost bit in from the left and letting the rightmost bits fall off	9 >> 1	1001 >> 1	1100	12
>>>	Zero-fill right shift - Shift right by pushing zeroes in from the left and letting the rightmost bits fall off	9 >>> 1	1001 >>> 1	0100	4

 

The Bitwise examples above use 4-bit unsigned examples, but Java uses 32-bit signed integers and 64-bit signed long integers. Because of this, in Java, ~5 will not return 10. It will return -6. ~00000000000000000000000000000101 will return 11111111111111111111111111111010
In Java, 9 >> 1 will not return 12. It will return 4. 00000000000000000000000000001001 >> 1 will return 00000000000000000000000000000100