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:
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 |
- | Substraction |
* | Multiplication |
/ | Division |
% | Modulus Operation (Remainder after division) |
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));
}
}
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.
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
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.
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; |
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
Relational operators are used to check the relationship between two operands. For example,
// check is 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 |
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.
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 |
!(Logical NOT) | !expression | true if expression is false and vice versa |
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
}
}
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 |
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.
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);
}
}
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.
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.
Besides these operators, there are other additional operators in Java.
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 = "";
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.
The ternary operator (conditional operator) is shorthand for the if-then-else statement. For example,
variable = Expression ? expression1 : expression2
Here’s how it works.
Expression
is true
, expression1
is assigned to the variable
.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.