Arithmatic operator in C

Arithmatic Operator in C

By Ahmad Irshad | C Programming Tutorial > Arithmatic operaotrs in C

In C programming, arithmatic operators are used to perform mathematical operations. For example: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and modulus.

C supports five arithmetic operators.

Operator	Description
+	Unary plus or binary addition
-	Unary minus or binary subtraction
*	Multiplication
/	Division
%	Modulo division (Evaluates remainder)

Unary plus (+) and unary minus (-) operator:

Unary operators required only one operand and used to indicates the number is positive or negative. 

For Example:

1. a = -10; // a holds -10 (negative)
2. b = +3.14; // b holds +3.14 (positive)
3. c = -b; // c holds -(+3.14) => -3.14 (negative)
4. d = -a; // d holds -(-10) => +10 (positive)

By default, every number is positive. Therefore, use of unary plus operator is optional. Means b = +3.14; is equivalent to b = 3.14;.

Binary arithmatic operators:

Binary arithmatic operators work with two operands. which are used to perform basic arithmatic operation like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and modulus (%).

Suppose two integer variables x and y with initial values.
int x=20, y=10;

After performing following binary arithmetic operations.

1. x + y = 30;
2. x - y = 10;
3. x * y = 200;
4. x / y = 2; // quotient = 2, of integer division
5. x % y = 0; // Remainder = 0, of integer division

Integer division:

C performs integer division if both operands are integer type. Integer division always evaluates to an integer discarding the fractional part.

For Example:

Operation	Result	Division type
5 / 2	2	Integer division

Real division:

C performs real division if any of the two operands are real type (either float or double). Real division evaluates to a real value containing integer as well as fractional part.

For Example:

Operation	Result	Division type
10 / 2.0	5.0	Real division
5.0 / 2	2.5	Real division
5 / 2.0	2.5	Real division
5.0 / 2.0	2.5	Real division

Mudulo division %:

Modulo division evaluates remainder after performing division of two numbers. 

1) Modulo division is only possible with integer operands. It causes compilation error with float types.

2) Modulo operator returns sign of the first operand.

For Example:

Operation	Result
8 % 2	0
5 % 3	2
3 % 7	3
-3 % 7	-3
5 % -2	1
-8 % -3	-2
*******************************
2.5 % 2	Error
8 % 2.5	Error
5.0 % 2.5	Error

Next topic >> Bitwise Operator.

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