operators.md

Programming operators

Common operator categories you will see across many languages.

Arithmetic

• + - * / % for add, subtract, multiply, divide, remainder.
• Exponent ** or ^ (language-specific); integer division // in some languages.
• Unary plus/minus for numeric coercion or sign.

Comparison

• Equality/inequality: == != (loose in some langs), strict === in JS.
• Relational: < <= > >= compare order.
• Pattern/type helpers vary: instanceof, is, typeof, in.

Logical (Boolean)

• &&/and, ||/or, !/not; all typically short-circuit.
• Use parentheses to make precedence explicit.

Assignment

• Basic = plus compound += -= *= /= %= <<= >>= &= |= ^=.
• Many langs support destructuring/tuple assignment for multiple values.

Bitwise

• & | ^ ~ << >> for AND, OR, XOR, NOT, shifts; unsigned shift >>> in JS.
• Useful for flags/masks; be mindful of sign bits and overflow.

Conditional/ternary

• condition ? whenTrue : whenFalse or language equivalent (if/else expressions).
• Keep branches simple for readability.

Null/undefined helpers

• Nullish coalescing ?? and optional chaining ?. (JS/TS); Elvis ?: and safe-call ?. (Kotlin).
• Use to avoid accidental NullPointer/undefined errors.

Precedence reminder

• Highest to lowest (generalized): parentheses → unary (!, ~, unary -) → multiplicative → additive → shifts → comparisons/equality → bitwise → logical → assignment.
• When unsure, add parentheses to keep intent clear.