Python Operators

Introduction to Python Operators

Constructs in Python programming language that instruct the interpreter to perform a certain function involving two or more variables upon which the construct operates are called python operators. Though not actually seen as functions, they have their own identity as concepts because they are different syntactically and semantically from functions. It performs tasks of various nature, including arithmetic, bitwise, membership, identity, comparison, assignment, and logic, etc., with a certain order of execution existing among them.

Python Operators

Operators in python are constructs in Python that instruct the interpreter to perform a certain function; however, these are traditionally not defined as functions; rather, they are syntactically and semantically different from functions. Operators are used to performing operations on variables and values according to their use.

Python language supports the following types of operators.

1. Arithmetic Operators
2. Bitwise Operators
3. Membership Operators
4. Identity Operators
5. Comparison Operators
6. Assignment Operators
7. Logical Operators

1. Arithmetic Operator

Arithmetic operators are used to performing mathematical operations

Operator	Description	Syntax	Output
+	Addition	a+b	Returns sum of the operands
–	Subtraction	a-b	Returns Difference of the operands
/	Division	a/b	Returns Quotient of the operands
*	Multiplication	a*b	Returns product of the operands
**	Exponentiation	a**b	returns exponent of a raised to the power b
%	Modulus	a%b	returns remainder of the division
//	Floor division	a//b	returns a real value and ignores the decimal part

Let us consider an example program for carrying out the arithmetic operations explained above.

Let us consider two integers Xa=2 and Xb=3

Program

Xa = int(input('Enter First number: '))
Xb = int(input('Enter Second number: '))
add = Xa + Xb
diff = Xa - Xb
mul = Xa * Xb
div = Xa / Xb
floor_div = Xa // Xb
power = Xa ** Xb
modulus = Xa % Xb
print('Sum of the numbers is',Xa ,'and' ,Xb ,'is :',add)
print('Difference of the numbers is ',Xa ,'and' ,Xb ,'is :',diff)
print('Product of the numbers is ' ,Xa ,'and' ,Xb ,'is :',mul)
print('Division of the numbers is ',Xa ,'and' ,Xb ,'is :',div)
print('Floor Division of the numbers is ',Xa ,'and' ,Xb ,'is :',floor_div)
print('Exponent of the numbers is ',Xa ,'and' ,Xb ,'is :',power)
print('Modulus of the numbers is ',Xa ,'and' ,Xb ,'is :',modulus)

Output

2. Bitwise Operators

Refers to the operators working on a bit, i.e. they treat the operand as a string of bits; for example, in bitwise operations, 5 will be considered as 0101.

The box below provides the bitwise operators in python

Operator	Description	Syntax	Output
&	Binary AND	a&b	copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands
|	Binary OR	a|b	copies a bit if it exists in either operand.
^	Binary XOR	a^b	copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both.
~	Binary One’s Complement	a~b	Unary operation of flipping bits
<<	Binary Left Shift	a<<b	The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand.
>>	Binary Right Shift	a>>b	left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand.

3. Membership Operators

Refers to the operators used in the validation of membership of operand test in a sequence, such as strings, lists, or tuples. There are two types of membership operators in python

Operator	Syntax	Output
in	if (a in x):	Evaluates to true if it finds a variable in the specified sequence and false otherwise.
not in	If ( b not in x ):	Evaluates to true if it does not finds a variable in the specified sequence and false otherwise.

4. Identity Operators

Used to compare the operands’ memory locations, they are quite often used to determine if the operand is of a particular type; there are two types of identity operators in python.

Operator	Syntax	Output
is	x is y	returns True if the type of the value in y points to the same type in the x.
is not	x is not y	returns True if the type of the value in y points to a different type than the value in the x

5. Comparison Operators

Also known as Relational operators, these operators are used in determining the relation between the operand on either side of the operator.

Operator	Syntax	Output
==	(a == b)	If the values of a and b are equal, then the condition becomes true.
!=	(a != b)	If values of a and b are not equal, then the condition becomes true.
<>	(a <> b)	If values of a and b are not equal, then the condition becomes true.
>	(a > b)	If the value of a is greater than the value of b, then the condition becomes true.
<	(a < b)	If the value of a is less than the value of b, then the condition becomes true.
>=	(a >= b)	If the value of a is greater than or equal to the value of b, then the condition becomes true.
<=	(a <= b)	If the value of b is less than or equal to the value of b, then the condition becomes true.

6. Assignment Operators

Referred as the name suggests, it is used to declare assignments to the operands; the following are the types of assignment operators in python.

Operator	Description	Syntax	Output
=	Equal to	c = a + b	assigns a value of a + b into c
+=	Add AND	c += a	is equivalent to c = c + a
-=	Subtract AND	c -= a	is equivalent to c = c – a
*=	Multiply AND	c *= a	is equivalent to c = c * a
/=	Divide AND	c /= a	is equivalent to c = c / ac /= a is equivalent to c = c / a
%=	Modulus AND	c %= a	is equivalent to c = c % a
**=	Exponent AND	c **= a	is equivalent to c = c ** a
//=	Floor Division	c //= a	is equivalent to c = c // a

7. Logical Operators

These operators are used to perform similar operations as that of logical gates; there are 3 types of logical operators in python.

Operator	Description	Syntax	Output
and	Logical AND	a and b	a condition is true if both a and b are true
or	Logical OR	a or b	a condition is true if either a and b are true
not	Logical NOT	not a	Complement the operand

Python Operators are the backbone of any operations and functions in the programming context.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Python Operators. Here we discuss the various Python Operators like Logical, Comparison, Arithmetic, etc. You may also look at the following articles to learn more:

1. Python 3 Commands
2. Is Python a scripting language?
3. Frameworks of Python 
4. Assignment Operators in Python