Beginners Guide to Python 3 – Python Operators

Python Operators

Operators are used to perform operations on values and variables. The Python operators are classified into seven different categories:

  • Arithmetic operators
  • Assignment operators
  • Comparison operators
  • Logical operators
  • Identity operators
  • Membership operators
  • Bitwise operators

 

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform simple mathematical operations on numeric values (except complex).

Operator Meaning Example
+ Addition x + y
Subtraction x – y
* Multiplication x * y
/ Division x / y
% Modulus x % y
** Exponentiation x ** y
// Floor division x // y

Here are some examples:

x = 6
y = 2

# addition
print(x + y)		# 8

# subtraction
print(x - y)		# 4

# multiplication
print(x * y)		# 12

# division
print(x / y)		# 3

# modulus
print(x % y)		# 0

# exponentiation
print(x ** y)		# 36

# floor division
print(x // y)		# 3

For additional numeric operations see the math module.

Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign new values to variables.

Operator Meaning Example Equivatent to
= Assignment x = 3 x = 3
+= Addition assignment x += 3 x = x + 3
-= Subtraction assignment x -= 3 x = x – 3
*= Multiplication assignment x *= 3 x = x * 3
/= Division assignment x /= 3 x = x / 3
%= Modulus assignment x %= 3 x = x % 3
//= Floor division assignment x //= 3 x = x // 3
**= Exponentiation assignment x **= 3 x = x ** 3
&= Bitwise AND assignment x &= 3 x = x & 3
|= Bitwise OR assignment x |= 3 x = x | 3
^= Bitwise XOR assignment x ^= 3 x = x ^ 3
>>= Bitwise right shift assignment x >>= 3 x = x >> 3
<<= Bitwise left shift assignment x <<= 3 x = x << 3

Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are used to compare two values.

Operator Meaning Example
== Equal to x == y
!= Not equal to x != y
> Greater than x > y
< Less than x < y
>= Greater than or equal to x >= y
<= Less than or equal to x <= y

Here are some examples:

x = 6
y = 2

# equal to
print(x == y)		# False

# not equal to
print(x != y)		# True

# greater than
print(x > y)		# True

# less than
print(x < y)		# False

# greater than or equal to
print(x >= y)		# True

# less than or equal to
print(x <= y)		# False

Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to join two or more conditions.

Operator Description Example
and Returns True if both statements are true x > 0 and y < 0
or Returns True if one of the statements is true x > 0 or y < 0
not Reverse the result, returns False if the result is true not(x > 0 and y < 0)

Here are some examples:

x = 2
y = -2

# and
print(x > 0 and y < 0)          # True

# or
print(x > 0 or y < 0)           # True

# not
print(not(x > 0 and y < 0))     # False

Identity Operators

Identity operators are used to check if two objects point to the same object, with the same memory location.

Operator Description Example
is Returns true if both variables are the same object x is y
is not Returns true if both variables are not the same object x is not y

Here are some examples:

x = [1, 2, 3]
y = [1, 2, 3]

# is
print(x is y)		# False

# is not
print(x is not y)	# True

Membership Operators

Membership operators are used to check if a specific item is present in a sequence (such as a string, tuple, list, or range) or a collection (such as a dictionary, set, or frozen set).

Operator Description Example
in Returns True if a value is present in the sequence x in y
not in Returns True if a value is not present in the sequence x not in y

Here are some examples:

L = ['red', 'green', 'blue']

# in
print('red' in L)           # True

# not in
print('yellow' not in L)    # True

Bitwise Operators

Binary operators are used to perform bit-level operations on (binary) numbers.

Operator Meaning Example
& AND x & y
| OR x | y
^ XOR x ^ y
~ NOT ~x
<< Left shift x << 2
>> Right shift x >> 2

Here are some examples:

x = 0b1100
y = 0b1010

# and
print(bin(x & y))	    # 0b1000

# or
print(bin(x | y))	    # 0b1110

# xor
print(bin(x ^ y))	    # 0b0110

# not
print(bin(~x))		    # -0b1101

# shift 2 bits left
print(bin(x << 2))	    # 0b1100

# shift 2 bits right
print(bin(x >> 2))	    # 0b0011

Operator Precedence (Order of Operations)

In Python, every operator is assigned a precedence. Operator Precedence determines which operations are performed before which other operations.

Operators of highest precedence are performed first. Any operators of equal precedence are performed in left-to-right order.

Precedence Operator Description
lowest precedence or Boolean OR
and Boolean AND
not Boolean NOT
==, ! =, <, <=, >, >=, is, is not comparisons, identity
| bitwise OR
^ bitwise XOR
& bitwise AND
<<, >> bit shis
+, – addition, subtraction
*, /, //, % multiplication, division, floor division, modulo
+x, -x, ~x unary positive, unary negation, bitwise negation
highest precedence ** exponentiation

 

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