IT2402

Operators and Expressions

Operators (Agarwal & Bansal, 2023)
Operators are symbols used to compute and compare values and test multiple conditions. Java supports
several categories of operators.
Arithmetic Operators
All mathematical operations are performed using operators in this category. An operand is the value to be
computed.
Name Operator Description Example
Addition + Adds an operand 𝑥 =𝑦+𝑧
Subtraction - Substracts the right operand from the left operand 𝑥 =𝑦−𝑧
Multiplication * Multiples the operands 𝑥 =𝑦∗3
Division / Divides the left operand by the right operance 𝑥 = 𝑦/𝑧
Modulus % Calculates the remainder of an integer division 𝑥 = 𝑦%𝑧
Table 1. Arithmetic operators.

The + Operator with Numeric Data Types

Adding operands of the primitive numeric data type results in a primitive numeric data type.
Byte var1 = 50; var3 results to 170. Since the byte data type can hold a range of -128
Byte var2 = 120; to +127, Java automatically converts any calculations of numeric data
Byte var3 = var1+var2; results to the int data type.
The + Operator with the String Data Type
If both operands are strings, the + operator joins them to display as a single output. If one of the operands is
a string object, the second operand is converted into a string before joining them.
For example, Result = operand1 + operand2
operand1 operand2 Result
7 3 10
2 "abc" 2𝑎𝑏𝑐
"abc" "xyz" "abcxyz"
Table 2. Operands for string data type.
Assignment Operators
An assignment operator assigns the specific value, variable, and/or functions to another variable.
Name Operator Description Example
Assigns the value of the right operand to the left
Assignment = 𝑥=𝑦
operand
Adds the operands and assigns the result to the left
Add and Assignment += 𝑥+= 𝑦
operand
Subtracts the right operand from the left operand
Subtract and Assignment -= 𝑥−= 𝑦
and store the result in the left operand
Multiplies the operand by the right operand and
Multiple and Assignment *= 𝑥 ∗= 𝑧
stores the result in the left operand
Divides the left operand by the right operand and
Divide and Assignment /= 𝑥/= 𝑧
stores the result in the left operand

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Modulus and Divides the left operand by the right operand and
%= 𝑥% = 𝑧
Assignment stores the remainder in the left operand
Table 3. Assignment operators.

The operator used in x operator y can be represented as x = x operator y. Thus, x += y is equivalent to x = x

+= y. It applies to every operator above.
Assigning values to more than one (1) variable at the same time is also allowed, such as x = y = 0;
Unary Operators
Compared to previous operators, this operator requires only one operand.
Name Operator Description Example
Unary Plus + Represents the positive value +𝑎
Unary Minus - Represents the negative value −𝑎
Increment ++ Increases the value of the operand by 1 𝑥++
Decrement -- Decreases the value of the operand by 1 𝑥−−
Logical Complement ! Inverts the value of a Boolean variable ! 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒
Table 4. Unary operators.

The increment/decrement operator can be used in two (2) ways:

o As a prefix or pre-increment/decrement wherein it precedes the variable: ++invar;
o As a suffix or post-increment/decrement wherein it follows the variable: invar--;
For pre-increment: Suppose x = 7, then the value of ++x will be 8.
For post-decrement: Suppose x = 12, then the value of x- - will be 11.
Comparison Operators
All mathematical operations involving comparison between values are performed using comparison
operators. It is also often called a relational operators.
Name Operator Description Example
Equal to == Evaluates whether the operands are equal 𝑥 == 𝑦
Not Equal to != Evaluates whether the operands are not equal 𝑥! = 𝑦
Evaluates whether the left operand is greater than the
Greater Than > 𝑥>𝑦
right operand
Evaluates whether the left operand is less than the right
Less Than < 𝑥<𝑦
operand
Greater Than or Evaluates whether the left operand is greater than or
>= 𝑥 >= 𝑦
Equal to equal to the right operand
Less Than or Equal Evaluates whether the left operand is less than or equal
<= 𝑥 <= 𝑦
to to the right operand
Table 5. Comparison operators

Shift Operators
These operators work on bits of data. It involves moving the bit pattern to the left or right. These operators
can only be used with integer data types.
Name Operator Description Example
The bits of the left operand are shifted right by the
Right Shift >> 𝑥=9≫2
number specified as the value for the second operand.

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Left Shift << Shifts bits to the left, filling zeros at the right. 𝑥=9≪2
Right Unsigned Works the same as the right shift, but 0 is used and
>>> 𝑥 = −10 ≫> 3
Shift replaces the bits that are shifted.
Table 6. Shift operators.

Zeros (0) are used as fillings when shifting in whichever direction.

Shifting Positive Numbers
The int data type occupies four (4) bytes in the memory. The rightmost eight bits of the number 9 are
represented in binary as:
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
For the right shift, the bits of the left operand are shifted right. Using 𝑥 = 9 ≫ 2, the result becomes 2:
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
For the left shift, the bits of the left operand are shifted left. Using 𝑥 = 9 ≪ 2, the result becomes 40:
0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Bitwise Operators
Compared to previous operators, bitwise operators perform operations bit-by-bit. These operators can be
applied to byte, int, short, long, and char data types.
Name Operator Description Example
AND results in a 1 if both the bits are 1. Any other
AND & 𝑥&𝑦
combination results in 0.
OR results in a 0 when both the bits are 0. Any other
OR | 𝑥|𝑦
combination results in 1.
XOR results in a 0, if both the bits are of the same value
XOR ^ 𝑥^𝑦
and 1 if the bits have different values.
Inversion ~ Converts all 1 bits to 0’s and all 0 bits to 1’s ~𝑥
Table 7. Bitwise operators.

When used with Boolean, x and y are integers and can be replaced with expressions that give a true or false
result such as when both the expressions evaluate to true, the result of using & is true. Otherwise, false.
Logical Operators
These are used to combine the results of Boolean expressions. These operators share a likeness with bitwise
operators, but logical operators are limited to Boolean expressions only.
Name Operator Description Example
Logical If both the operands are non-zero, the expression
&& 𝑥 > 4&&𝑦 < 8
AND returns true; otherwise, it returns false.
If one or both the operands are non-zero, the expression
Logical OR || 𝑥 > 4||𝑦 < 8
returns true; otherwise, it returns FALSE.
Table 8. Logical operators.

For the example of Logical AND, the result is true if the first condition (x>4) and the second condition (y>8)
are both true. If any of the conditions are false, the result is false.

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Conditional Operator
This operator is used to control the flow of the program. The ternary operator is used mainly in loop
statements.
Name Operator Description Example
(condition)? Evaluates val1 if the condition returns true and val2
Ternary 𝑥 = (𝑦 > 𝑧)? 𝑦: 𝑧
val1:val2 if the condition returns false.
Table 9. Conditional operators.

To explain the example, x is assigned the value of y if it is greater than z; otherwise, x is assigned the value of
z.
Order of Precedence of Operators
Order of Precedence shows the hierarchy wherein an operation with high precedence is performed before
the others. The table shows those with the same level of precedence are listed in the same row.
Category Operators
High Precedence [], ()
Unary +, -, ~, !, ++, --
Multiplicative *, /, %
Additive +, -
Shift <<, >>, >>>
Relational <, <=, >=, >
Equality =, ==, !=
Bitwise &, ^, |
Logical &&, ||
Conditional ?:
Assignment =, +=, -=, *=, !=, %=
Table 10. Order of precedence.

Expressions (Agarwal & Bansal, 2023)

An expression is a combination of variables, constants, literals, and operators to produce a single value. A
simple 23 + 16 and x = -82 are considered expressions.
In Java, an expression statement consists of an expression followed by a semicolon (;) to evaluate an
expression and disregard the result.
int a = 10;
System.out.println("The value of a is " + a);
Each line in this code snippet is considered an expression statement.
Here are several types of expressions in Java.
Arithmetic Expression
It is an expression that returns a numeric value based on the operators and operands used. For example:
int x = 10;
The last line is an arithmetic expression. It adds the value of x and y and
int y = 15;
int z = x + y; assigns the result to the z.

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Assignment Expression
It is an expression that involves assigning a value to a variable. For example:
int a = 8; The last line is an assignment expression that adds 4 to the value of a and
a = a + 4; assigns the result back to a.
Relational Expression
It is an expression that compares values using relational operators. For example:
int x = 6;
The last line is a relation expression comparing the values of x and y and
int y = 8;
boolean result = x < y; assigning the result to the variable result.

Logical Expression
It is an expression involving logical operators. For example:
int j = 5; The last line is a logical expression that checks whether j is less
int k = 4; than k and whether k is less than 4. The result is assigned to the
boolean result = (j<k) && (k<4); result.
Conditional Expression
It is an expression involving the use of the ternary operator (?:) to assign a value based on a condition. For
example:
int l = 7;
The last line is a conditional expression that checks whether l is less than
int m = 3;
int n = (l < m) ? 2 : 3; m. If true, 2 is assigned to the variable of n; otherwise, 3 is assigned.

References:
Agarwal, S. & Bansal, H. (2023). Java in depth. BPB Publications.
Burk, S. (2023). Java programming: The complete beginner’s guide. Orchid Publishing.
Nawghare, A. (2023). Java expressions: An introduction with examples. [Web Article]. Retrieved on March 14, 2024, from
https://codegym.cc/groups/posts/java-expressions-an-introduction-with-examples

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