Python Operators

Python Operators in general are used to perform operations on values and

variables. These are standard symbols used for the purpose of logical and
arithmetic operations. In this article, we will look into different types of Python
operators.
• OPERATORS: Are the special symbols. Eg- + , * , /, etc.
• OPERAND: It is the value on which the operator is applied.
Arithmetic Operators
Arithmetic operators are used to performing mathematical operations like
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
• In Python 3.x the result of division is a floating-point while in Python
2.x division of 2 integer was an integer and to obtain an integer result
in Python 3.x floored (// integer) is used.
Operator Description Syntax

+ Addition: adds two operands x+y

– Subtraction: subtracts two operands x–y

* Multiplication: multiplies two operands x*y

/ Division (float): divides the first operand by the second x/y

// Division (floor): divides the first operand by the second x // y

Modulus: returns the remainder when the first operand is

% divided by the second x%y

** Power: Returns first raised to power second x ** y

PRECEDENCE:

• P – Parentheses
• E – Exponentiation
• M – Multiplication (Multiplication and division have the same
precedence)
• D – Division
• A – Addition (Addition and subtraction have the same precedence)
• S – Subtraction
The modulus operator helps us extract the last digit/s of a number. For
example:
• x % 10 -> yields the last digit
• x % 100 -> yield last two digits
Example: Arithmetic operators in Python
• Python3

# Examples of Arithmetic Operator

a = 9
b = 4

# Addition of numbers
add = a + b

# Subtraction of numbers
sub = a - b

# Multiplication of number
mul = a * b

# Division(float) of number
div1 = a / b

# Division(floor) of number
div2 = a // b

# Modulo of both number

mod = a % b

# Power
p = a ** b

# print results
print(add)
print(sub)
print(mul)
print(div1)
print(div2)
print(mod)
print(p)

Output
13
5
36
2.25
2
1
6561
Note: Refer to Differences between / and // for some interesting facts about
these two operators.

Comparison Operators
Comparison of Relational operators compares the values. It either
returns True or False according to the condition.
Operator Description Syntax

> Greater than: True if the left operand is greater than the right x>y

< Less than: True if the left operand is less than the right x<y

== Equal to: True if both operands are equal x == y

!= Not equal to – True if operands are not equal x != y

Greater than or equal to True if the left operand is greater than

>= or equal to the right x >= y

Less than or equal to True if the left operand is less than or

<= equal to the right x <= y

is x is the same as y x is y

x is not
is not x is not the same as y y

= is an assignment operator and == comparison operator.

Example: Comparison Operators in Python
• Python3

# Examples of Relational Operators

a = 13
b = 33

# a > b is False
 print(a > b)

# a < b is True
print(a < b)

# a == b is False
print(a == b)

# a != b is True
print(a != b)

# a >= b is False
print(a >= b)

# a <= b is True
print(a <= b)

Output
False
True
False
True
False
True

Logical Operators
Logical operators perform Logical AND, Logical OR, and Logical
NOT operations. It is used to combine conditional statements.
Operator Description Syntax

and Logical AND: True if both the operands are true x and y

or Logical OR: True if either of the operands is true x or y

not Logical NOT: True if the operand is false not x

Example: Logical Operators in Python

• Python3
 # Examples of Logical Operator
a = True
b = False

# Print a and b is False

print(a and b)

# Print a or b is True
print(a or b)

# Print not a is False

print(not a)

Output
False
True
False

Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operators act on bits and perform the bit-by-bit operations. These are
used to operate on binary numbers.
Operator Description Syntax

& Bitwise AND x&y

| Bitwise OR x|y

~ Bitwise NOT ~x

^ Bitwise XOR x^y

>> Bitwise right shift x>>

<< Bitwise left shift x<<

Example: Bitwise Operators in Python

• Python3

# Examples of Bitwise operators

 a = 10
b = 4

# Print bitwise AND operation

print(a & b)

# Print bitwise OR operation

print(a | b)

# Print bitwise NOT operation

print(~a)

# print bitwise XOR operation

print(a ^ b)

# print bitwise right shift operation

print(a >> 2)

# print bitwise left shift operation

print(a << 2)

Output
0
14
-11
14
2
40

Assignment Operators
Assignment operators are used to assign values to the variables.
Operator Description Syntax

Assign value of right side of expression to left side

= operand x=y+z

Add AND: Add right-side operand with left side

+= operand and then assign to left operand a+=b a=a+b

Subtract AND: Subtract right operand from left

-= operand and then assign to left operand a-=b a=a-b
 Operator Description Syntax

Multiply AND: Multiply right operand with left

*= operand and then assign to left operand a*=b a=a*b

Divide AND: Divide left operand with right

/= operand and then assign to left operand a/=b a=a/b

Modulus AND: Takes modulus using left and right

%= operands and assign the result to left operand a%=b a=a%b

Divide(floor) AND: Divide left operand with right

operand and then assign the value(floor) to left
//= operand a//=b a=a//b

Exponent AND: Calculate exponent(raise power)

value using operands and assign value to left
**= operand a**=b a=a**b

Performs Bitwise AND on operands and assign

&= value to left operand a&=b a=a&b

Performs Bitwise OR on operands and assign value

|= to left operand a|=b a=a|b

Performs Bitwise xOR on operands and assign

^= value to left operand a^=b a=a^b

Performs Bitwise right shift on operands and assign

>>= value to left operand a>>=b a=a>>b

Performs Bitwise left shift on operands and assign a <<= b a= a <<

<<= value to left operand b

Example: Assignment Operators in Python

• Python3

# Examples of Assignment Operators

a = 10
 # Assign value
b = a
print(b)

# Add and assign value

b += a
print(b)

# Subtract and assign value

b -= a
print(b)

# multiply and assign

b *= a
print(b)

# bitwise lishift operator

b <<= a
print(b)

Output
10
20
10
100
102400

Identity Operators
is and is not are the identity operators both are used to check if two values
are located on the same part of the memory. Two variables that are equal do
not imply that they are identical.
is True if the operands are identical
is not True if the operands are not identical
Example: Identity Operator
• Python3

a = 10
b = 20
c = a

print(a is not b)
print(a is c)

Output
True
True

Membership Operators
in and not in are the membership operators; used to test whether a value or
variable is in a sequence.
in True if value is found in the sequence
not in True if value is not found in the sequence
Example: Membership Operator
• Python3

# Python program to illustrate

# not 'in' operator
x = 24
y = 20
list = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]

if (x not in list):
print("x is NOT present in given list")
else:
print("x is present in given list")

if (y in list):
print("y is present in given list")
else:
print("y is NOT present in given list")

Output
x is NOT present in given list
y is present in given list

Precedence and Associativity of Operators

Precedence and Associativity of Operators: Operator precedence and
associativity determine the priorities of the operator.
Operator Precedence
This is used in an expression with more than one operator with different
precedence to determine which operation to perform first.

Example: Operator Precedence

• Python3

# Examples of Operator Precedence

 # Precedence of '+' & '*'
expr = 10 + 20 * 30
print(expr)

# Precedence of 'or' & 'and'

name = "Alex"
age = 0

if name == "Alex" or name == "John" and age >= 2:

print("Hello! Welcome.")
else:
print("Good Bye!!")

Output
610
Hello! Welcome.
Operator Associativity
If an expression contains two or more operators with the same precedence
then Operator Associativity is used to determine. It can either be Left to Right
or from Right to Left.
Example: Operator Associativity
• Python3

# Examples of Operator Associativity

# Left-right associativity
# 100 / 10 * 10 is calculated as
# (100 / 10) * 10 and not
# as 100 / (10 * 10)
print(100 / 10 * 10)

# Left-right associativity
# 5 - 2 + 3 is calculated as
# (5 - 2) + 3 and not
# as 5 - (2 + 3)
print(5 - 2 + 3)

# left-right associativity
print(5 - (2 + 3))

# right-left associativity
# 2 ** 3 ** 2 is calculated as
# 2 ** (3 ** 2) and not
# as (2 ** 3) ** 2
 print(2 ** 3 ** 2)

Output
100.0
6
0
512

Quiz on Python Operators

Division Operators allow you to divide two numbers and return a quotient,
i.e., the first number or number at the left is divided by the second number or
number at the right and returns the quotient.
There are two types of division operators:
(i) Float division:
The quotient returns by this operator is always a float number, no matter if two
numbers are integer. For example:
>>>5/5
1.0
>>>10/2
5.0
>>>-10/2
-5.0
>>>20.0/2
10.0
(ii) Integer division( Floor division):
The quotient returned by this operator is dependent on the argument being
passed. If any of the numbers is float, it returns output in float. It is also known
as Floor division because, if any number is negative, then the output will be
floored. For example:
>>>5//5
1
>>>3//2
1
>>>10//3
3
Consider the below statements in Python.
 • Python3

# A Python program to demonstrate the use of

# "//" for integers
print (5//2)
print (-5//2)

Output:
2
-3
The first output is fine, but the second one may be surprised if we are
coming Java/C++ world. In Python, the “//” operator works as a floor division
for integer and float arguments. However, the division operator ‘/’ returns
always a float value.
Note: The “//” operator is used to return the closest integer value which is
less than or equal to a specified expression or value. So from the above
code, 5//2 returns 2. You know that 5/2 is 2.5, and the closest integer which
is less than or equal is 2[5//2].( it is inverse to the normal maths, in normal
maths the value is 3).
Example
• Python3

# A Python program to demonstrate use of

# "/" for floating point numbers
print (5.0/2)
print (-5.0/2)

Output
2.5
-2.5
The real floor division operator is “//”. It returns the floor value for both
integer and floating-point arguments.

• Python3

# A Python program to demonstrate use of

# "//" for both integers and floating points
print (5//2)
print (-5//2)
print (5.0//2)
print (-5.0//2)

Output
2
-3
2.0
-3.0
See this for example.
Ternary operators
Ternary operators are also known as conditional expressions are operators
that evaluate something based on a condition being true or false. It was
added to Python in version 2.5.
It simply allows testing a condition in a single line replacing the multiline if-
else making the code compact.

Syntax :
[on_true] if [expression] else [on_false]
• Simple Method to use ternary operator:
• Python

# Program to demonstrate conditional operator

a, b = 10, 20

# Copy value of a in min if a < b else copy b

min = a if a < b else b

print(min)

Output:
10
• Direct Method by using tuples, Dictionary, and lambda
• Python

# Python program to demonstrate ternary operator

a, b = 10, 20

# Use tuple for selecting an item

# (if_test_false,if_test_true)[test]
# if [a<b] is true it return 1, so element with 1 index will print
# else if [a<b] is false it return 0, so element with 0 index will
print
print( (b, a) [a < b] )

# Use Dictionary for selecting an item

# if [a < b] is true then value of True key will print
 # else if [a<b] is false then value of False key will print
print({True: a, False: b} [a < b])

# lambda is more efficient than above two methods

# because in lambda we are assure that
# only one expression will be evaluated unlike in
# tuple and Dictionary
print((lambda: b, lambda: a)[a < b]())

Output:
10
10
10
• Ternary operator can be written as nested if-else:
• Python

# Python program to demonstrate nested ternary operator

a, b = 10, 20

print ("Both a and b are equal" if a == b else "a is greater than

b"
if a > b else "b is greater than a")

The above approach can be written as:

• Python

# Python program to demonstrate nested ternary operator

a, b = 10, 20

if a != b:
if a > b:
print("a is greater than b")
else:
print("b is greater than a")
else:
print("Both a and b are equal")

Output:
b is greater than a
•
To use print function in ternary operator be like:-
Example: Find the Larger number among 2 using ternary operator in python3
 • Python3

a=5
b=7

# [statement_on_True] if [condition] else [statement_on_false]

print(a,"is greater") if (a>b) else print(b,"is Greater")

Output:
7 is Greater
Important Points:
• First the given condition is evaluated (a < b), then either a or b is
returned based on the Boolean value returned by the condition
• Order of the arguments in the operator is different from other
languages like C/C++ (See C/C++ ternary operators).
• Conditional expressions have the lowest priority amongst all Python
operations.
Method used prior to 2.5 when the ternary operator was not present
In an expression like the one given below, the interpreter checks for the
expression if this is true then on_true is evaluated, else the on_false is
evaluated.

Syntax :
'''When condition becomes true, expression [on_false]
is not executed and value of "True and [on_true]"
is returned. Else value of "False or [on_false]"
is returned.
Note that "True and x" is equal to x.
And "False or x" is equal to x. '''
[expression] and [on_true] or [on_false]
Example :
• Python

# Program to demonstrate conditional operator

a, b = 10, 20

# If a is less than b, then a is assigned

# else b is assigned (Note : it doesn't
# work if a is 0.
 min = a < b and a or b

print(min)

Output:
10
Note : The only drawback of this method is that on_true must not be zero
or False. If this happens on_false will be evaluated always. The reason for
that is if the expression is true, the interpreter will check for the on_true, if
that will be zero or false, that will force the interpreter to check for on_false to
give the final result of the whole expression.