Java Operators: Arithmetic, Relational, Logical, Bitwise, Ternary and more

 In this tutorial, you'll learn about different types of operators in Java, their syntax and how to use them with the help of examples.

Operators are symbols that perform operations on variables and values. For example, + is an operator used for addition, while * is also an operator used for multiplication.

Operators in Java can be classified into 5 types:

1. Arithmetic Operators
2. Assignment Operators
3. Relational Operators
4. Logical Operators
5. Unary Operators
6. Bitwise Operators

1. Java Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform arithmetic operations on variables and data. 

For example:

a - b;

Here, the + operator is used to add two variables a and b. Similarly, there are various other arithmetic operators in Java.

Operator            Operation

+                   Addition

-                        Subtraction

*                       Multiplication

/                  Division

%                  Modulo Operation (Remainder after division)

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

     

      // declare variables

      int a = 12, b = 5;

 

      // addition operator

      System.out.println("a + b = " + (a + b));

 

      // subtraction operator

      System.out.println("a - b = " + (a - b));

 

      // multiplication operator

      System.out.println("a * b = " + (a * b));

 

      // division operator

      System.out.println("a / b = " + (a / b));

 

      // modulo operator

      System.out.println("a % b = " + (a % b));

    }

  }

Output

a + b = 17

a - b = 7

a * b = 60

a / b = 2

a % b = 2

In the above example, we have used +, -, and * operators to compute addition, subtraction, and multiplication operations.

/ Division Operator

Note the operation, a / b in our program. The / operator is the division operator.

If we use the division operator with two integers, then the resulting quotient will also be an integer. And, if one of the operands is a floating-point number, we will get the result will also be in floating-point.

// In Java,

(9 / 2) is 4

(9.0 / 2) is 4.5

(9 / 2.0) is 4.5

(9.0 / 2.0) is 4.5

% Modulo Operator

The modulo operator % computes the remainder. When a = 7 is divided by b = 4, the remainder is 3.

Note: The % operator is mainly used with integers.

2. Java Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used in Java to assign values to variables. For example,

int age;

age = 5;

Here, = is the assignment operator. It assigns the value on its right to the variable on its left. That is, 5 is assigned to the variable age.

Let's see some more assignment operators available in Java.

Operator	Example	Equivalent to
=	a = b;	a = b;
+=	a += b;	a = a + b;
-=	a -= b;	a = a - b;
*=	a *= b;	a = a * b;
/=	a /= b;	a = a / b;
%=	a %= b;	a = a % b;

Example 2: Assignment Operators

class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

     

      // create variables

      int a = 4;

      int var;

 

      // assign value using =

      var = a;

      System.out.println("var using =: " + var);

 

      // assign value using =+

      var += a;

      System.out.println("var using +=: " + var);

 

      // assign value using =*

      var *= a;

      System.out.println("var using *=: " + var);

    }

  }

Output

var using =: 4

var using +=: 8

var using *=: 32

3. Java Relational Operators

Relational operators are used to check the relationship between two operands. For example,

// check if a is less than b

a < b;

Here, < operator is the relational operator. It checks if a is less than b or not.

It returns either true or false.

Operator	Description	Example
==	Is Equal To	3 == 5 returns false
!=	Not Equal To	3 != 5 returns true
>	Greater Than	3 > 5 returns false
<	Less Than	3 < 5 returns true
>=	Greater Than or Equal To	3 >= 5 returns false
<=	Less Than or Equal To	3 <= 5 returns true

Example 3: Relational Operators

class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

     

      // create variables

      int a = 7, b = 11;

 

      // value of a and b

      System.out.println("a is " + a + " and b is " + b);

 

      // == operator

      System.out.println(a == b);  // false

 

      // != operator

      System.out.println(a != b);  // true

 

      // > operator

      System.out.println(a > b);  // false

 

      // < operator

      System.out.println(a < b);  // true

 

      // >= operator

      System.out.println(a >= b);  // false

 

      // <= operator

      System.out.println(a <= b);  // true

    }

  }

Note: Relational operators are used in decision making and loops.

4. Java Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to check whether an expression is true or false. They are used in decision making.

Operator	Example	Meaning
&& (Logical AND)	expression1 && expression2	true only if both expression1 and expression2 are true
|| (Logical OR)	expression1 || expression2	true if either expression1 or expression2 is true
! (Logical NOT)	!expression	true if expression is false and vice versa

Example 4: Logical Operators

Example 4: Logical Operators

class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

 

      // && operator

      System.out.println((5 > 3) && (8 > 5));  // true

      System.out.println((5 > 3) && (8 < 5));  // false

 

      // || operator

      System.out.println((5 < 3) || (8 > 5));  // true

      System.out.println((5 > 3) || (8 < 5));  // true

      System.out.println((5 < 3) || (8 < 5));  // false

 

      // ! operator

      System.out.println(!(5 == 3));  // true

      System.out.println(!(5 > 3));  // false

    }

  }

Working of Program

(5 > 3) && (8 > 5) returns true because both (5 > 3) and (8 > 5) are true.

(5 > 3) && (8 < 5) returns false because the expression (8 < 5) is false.

(5 < 3) || (8 > 5) returns true because the expression (8 > 5) is true.

(5 > 3) && (8 > 5) returns true because the expression (5 > 3) is true.

(5 > 3) && (8 > 5) returns false because both (5 < 3) and (8 < 5) are false.

!(5 == 3) returns true because 5 == 3 is false.

!(5 > 3) returns false because 5 > 3 is true.

5. Java Unary Operators

Unary operators are used with only one operand. For example, ++ is a unary operator that increases the value of a variable by 1. That is, ++5 will return 6.

Different types of unary operators are:

Operator	Meaning
+	Unary plus: not necessary to use since numbers are positive without using it
-	Unary minus: inverts the sign of an expression
++	Increment operator: increments value by 1
--	Decrement operator: decrements value by 1
!	Logical complement operator: inverts the value of a boolean

Example 5: Increment and Decrement Operators

Java also provides increment and decrement operators: ++ and -- respectively. ++ increases the value of the operand by 1, while -- decrease it by 1. For example,

int num = 5;

// increase num by 1

++num;

Here, the value of num gets increased to 6 from its initial value of 5.

Example 5: Increment and Decrement Operators

class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

     

      // declare variables

      int a = 12, b = 12;

      int result1, result2;

 

      // original value

      System.out.println("Value of a: " + a);

 

      // increment operator

      result1 = ++a;

      System.out.println("After increment: " + result1);

 

      System.out.println("Value of b: " + b);

 

      // decrement operator

      result2 = --b;

      System.out.println("After decrement: " + result2);

    }

  }

Output

Value of a: 12

After increment: 13

Value of b: 12    

After decrement: 11

In the above program, we have used the ++ and -- operator as prefixes (++a, --b). We can also use these operators as postfix (a++, b++).

There is a slight difference when these operators are used as prefix versus when they are used as a postfix.

To learn more about these operators, visit increment and decrement operators.

6. Java Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators in Java are used to perform operations on individual bits. For example,

Bitwise complement Operation of 35

35 = 00100011 (In Binary)

~ 00100011

  ________

   11011100  = 220 (In decimal)

Here, ~ is a bitwise operator. It inverts the value of each bit (0 to 1 and 1 to 0).

The various bitwise operators present in Java are:

Operator	Description
~	Bitwise Complement
<<	Left Shift
>>	Right Shift
>>>	Unsigned Right Shift
&	Bitwise AND
^	Bitwise exclusive OR

These operators are not generally used in Java. To learn more, visit Java Bitwise and Bit Shift Operators.

Other operators

Besides these operators, there are other additional operators in Java.

Java instanceof Operator

The instanceof operator checks whether an object is an instanceof a particular class. For example,

class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

 

      String str = "Programiz";

      boolean result;

 

      // checks if str is an instance of

      // the String class

      result = str instanceof String;

      System.out.println("Is str an object of String? " + result);

    }

  }

Output

Is str an object of String? true

Here, str is an instance of the String class. Hence, the instanceof operator returns true. To learn more, visit Java instanceof.

Java Ternary Operator

The ternary operator (conditional operator) is shorthand for the if-then-else statement. For example,

variable = Expression ? expression1 : expression2

Here's how it works.

If the Expression is true, expression1 is assigned to the variable.

• If the Expression is false, expression2 is assigned to the variable.
• Let's see an example of a ternary operator.

class Java {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

 

      int februaryDays = 29;

      String result;

 

      // ternary operator

      result = (februaryDays == 28) ? "Not a leap year" : "Leap year";

      System.out.println(result);

    }

  }

Output

Leap year

In the above example, we have used the ternary operator to check if the year is a leap year or not. To learn more, visit the Java ternary operator.

Now that you know about Java operators, it's time to know about the order in which operators are evaluated. To learn more, visit Java Operator Precedence.