Operators in C#

In C#, Operators are special types of symbols which perform operations on variables or values. It is a fundamental part of language which plays an important role in performing different mathematical operations. It takes one or more operands and performs operations to produce a result.

Types of Operators

C# has some set of operators that can be classified into various categories based on their functionality. Categorized into the following types:

1. Arithmetic Operators
2. Relational Operators
3. Logical Operators
4. Assignment Operators
5. Increment and Decrement Operators
6. Bitwise Operators
7. Ternary Operator
8. Null Coalescing Operator

1. Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform basic mathematical operations on numeric values.

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

Example:

Addition: 12
Subtraction: 4
Multiplication: 32
Division: 2
Modulo: 0

2. Relational Operators

Relational operators are used to compare values. And we get the answer in either true or false ( boolean). Let's learn about different relation operators.

• Equal to ( == )
• Not equal to ( != )
• Less than ( < )
• Less than or equal to ( <= )
• greater than ( > )
• Greater than or equal to ( >= )

Example:

False
True
False
True
False
True

3. Logical Operators

Used when multiple conditions and there we can combine these to compare complex conditions.

• Logical AND (&&) : returns true when both conditions are true.
• Logical OR ( || ) : returns true if at least one condition is true.
• Logical NOT ( ! ): returns true when a condition is false and vice-versa.

Example:

Either a or b is true
b is not true

4. Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables. The assignment operator is combined with others to create shorthand compound statements. Common compound operators include:

• += (Add and assign.)
• -= (Subtract and assign.)
• *= (Multiply and assign.)
• /= (Divide and assign.)
• %= (Modulo and assign.)

Example:

Add Assignment: 15
Subtract Assignment: 12
Multiply Assignment: 24
Division Assignment: 6
Modulo Assignment: 1

5. Increment/Decrement Operators

Increment and decrement operators are used to increase or decrease the value of a variable by 1.

++ (Increments by 1)

• Post-Increment: Uses value first, then increments.
• Pre-Increment: Increments first, then uses value.

-- (Decrements by 1)

• Post-Decrement: Uses value first, then decrements.
• Pre-Decrement: Decrements first, then uses the value.

Example:

++a returns: 6
a++ returns: 6
Final value of a: 7

--a returns: 6
a-- returns: 6
Final value of a: 5

6. Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators are used to perform bit-level operations on integer values. It takes less time because it directly works on the bits.

Example:

2
10
8
-11
20
5

7. Ternary Operator

The ternary operator is a shorthand for an if-else statement. It evaluates a condition and returns one of two values depending on whether the condition is true or false.

Syntax

condition ? if true : if false

Example:

a is greater

8. Null-Coalescing Operator

The null-coalescing operator (??) is used to provide a default value when a variable is null.

Example:

Default Name

Operator Associativity

The following table summarizes the associativity of various operators in C#:

Explanation of Associativity

• Left to Right: For operators with left-to-right associativity, expressions are evaluated from the leftmost operator to the rightmost. For example, like a - b + c here the subtraction is performed first because it appears first in the expression
• Right to Left: For operators with right-to-left associativity, such as assignment operators, expressions are evaluated from the rightmost operator to the leftmost. For example, a = b = c here c is assigned to b first then a.

Operator Precedence

Operator precedence is the most important to evaluate any expression because it gives us an idea about how the different operation performs and which one has the higher precedence.

The below table shows the precedence of different operators in C# in ascending order.

Example:

Ans of a + b * c: 34

Best Practices

• Parentheses: when there are multiple operations you can use () to specify which operation needs to be performed first like (a+b)*c here the operation inside the parentheses is performed first.
• Complex expressions: avoid using multiple operators together.
• Operator overloading: Sometimes It will create ambiguity in the program so make sure to define everything and use only what we need most.