Basic Operators in Python Programming
An “operator” is defined as the element that can modify an operand’s value. In this example: 3 + 6 = 9, the operands are 3 and 6 while the + symbol is called the operator.
This Article will focus on the fundamental operators used in the Python programming language.
Types of Operator
Python currently supports these types of operators:
- Bitwise Operators
- Identity Operators
- Arithmetic Operators
- Logical Operators
- Membership Operators
- Relational or Comparison Operators
- Assignment Operators
We will now discuss each operators:
Bitwise Operators
These operators execute bit by bit operation. If we will assume that x has a value of 60 and y has a value of 13, we will have these binary information:
- X = 0011 1100
- Y= 0000 1101
- X and Y = 0000 1100
- X | Y = 0011 1101
- ~ X = 1100 0011
- X * Y = 0011 0001
We will now use these binary data to show the Bitwise operations used in the Python programming language.
Number | Operators | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
1 | >> Binary Right Shift | The value of the left operand is moved to the right based on the number of bits determined by operand on the right. | X >> = 15 (which is 0000 1111) |
2 | << Binary Left Shift | The value of the left operand is moved to the left based on the number identified by the operand on the right. | X << 240 (which is 1111 0000) |
3 | & Binary AND | This operator copies and pastes a bit to the end result if it is present in both operands. | (X and Y) which is 0000 1100) |
4 | ^ Binary XOR | This operator duplicates a bit if it is present in one operand but not on the other | (X ^ Y) = 49 (which is 0011 0001) |
5 | ~ Complement of Binary Ones | This operator is unary and it can flip bits. | (~ X) = 61 (which is 1100 0011 in complement of 2’s form because of a marked binary digit) |
6 | | Binary OR | This operator duplicates a bit if it is present in one of the operands. | (X | Y) 61 (which is 0011 1101) |
Identity Operators
These operators compare the locations of two elements. We will talk about two identity operators here:
Number | Operators | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Is not | Its value becomes false if the operands on either side of the basic operator is pointing to a single element. | Y is not X – “is not” came from 1 if id (X) is not equal to id (Y) |
2 | Is | Its value becomes true if the operands on either side of the basic operator is pointing to a single element. | X is Y – “is” came from 1 if id (X) is equal to id (Y) |
Arithmetic Operators
For these operators, let’s assume that variable X has the value of 1 and variable Y has the value of 2. Then:
Number | Operators | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
1 | // or Floor Division | It divides the operands where the resulting value is the quotient in which the numbers past the decimal point are deleted. | 10 // 2 equals 5 and 10.0 // 2.0 = 5.0 |
2 | * or Exponents | It performs a power (exponential) computation on the operators. | X ** Y = 2 to the power of 1 |
3 | % or Modulus | It divides the left operand by the value of the right operand and gives out the remainder. | Y % X = 0 |
4 | + or Addition | This operator simply adds the values of the operands. | X + Y = 3 |
5 | - Or Subtraction | This operator subtracts the value of the right operand from the left operand. | X – Y = 1 |
6 | * or Multiplication | This operator multiples the values of the operands. | X * Y = 2 |
7 | / or Division | It the divides the value of the left operand by the left operand. | Y / X = 2 |
Logical Operators
These are the logical operators used in the Python programming language. We will assume that variable X is equal to 1 and variable Y is equal to 2.
Number | Operators | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Logical AND (and) | The condition is only true if the two operands are true. | (X and Y) is true. |
2 | Logical OR (or) | The condition is only true if one of the operands is not equal to zero. | (X and Y) is true. |
3 | Logical NOT (not) | This operator is used to reverse an operand’s logical status. | Not (X and Y) is false. |
Membership Operators
These operators are used in the Python language to check for “membership” in a code sequence (e.g. lists, tuples, strings, etc.) Currently, Python only supports 2 membership operators. These are:
Number | Operators | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Is | This is evaluated as true if the operands on either side of the operator are pointing to a single element. | X is Y. “Is” is a result of (1 if id (X) is equal to id (Y)) |
2 | Is not | This is evaluated as false if the operands on either side of the operator are pointing to a single element. | X is not Y. “Is not” is a result of (1 if id (X) is not equal to id (Y)) |
Relational or Comparison Operators
These operators are used to compare the values of the operands and determine the relation present among them. Let us assume that variable X is equal to 1 and that variable Y is equal to 2.
Number | Operators | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
1 | <= | The condition is only true if the left operand’s value is less than or equivalent to the right operand’s value. | (X <= Y) is true. |
2 | >= | The condition is only true if the left operand’s value is great than or equal to the right operand’s value. | (Y >= X) is true. |
3 | <> | The condition is only true if the values of the two operands are unequal. | (X <> Y) is true. |
4 | < | The condition is only true if the value of the right operand is greater than the value of the left operand. | (X > Y) is not true. |
6 | == | The condition is only true if the values of the operands are equal. | (X == Y) is not true. |
7 | != | The condition is only true if the values of the operands are not equal. | This one is similar to <> above. |
Assignment Operators
We will just assume that the variable X is equal to 1, variable Y is equal to 2 and variable Z is unknown.
Number | Operators | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
1 | //= or Floor Division | This one performs a floor division on the operators and assigns a value of the left hand operand. | (Z //= X) is equal to (Z = Z // X) |
2 | **= or Exponent AND | This one performs a power (exponential) computation on the operators and assigns the value of the left hand operand. | (Z **= X) is equal to (Z = Z ** X) |
3 | %= or Modulus AND | A modulus is taken from two operands and assigns the value of the left operand. | (Z %= X) is equal to (Z = Z %=X) |
4 | += or Addition AND | The value of the right hand operand is added to the left hand operand and sets the sum as the value of the left hand operand. | (Z += X) is equal to (Z = Z + X) |
5 | -= or Subtraction AND | The value of the right operand is deducted from the left operand and sets the difference as the left operand’s value. | (Z -+ X) is equal to (Z = Z -X) |
6 | *= or Multiplication AND | The value of the left operand is multiplied with the value of the right operand and sets the product as the left operand’s value. | (Z *= X) is equal to (Z = Z * X) |
7 | /= or Division AND | The value of the left hand operand is divided using the value of the right hand operand and assigns the result as the left operand’s new value. | (Z /= X) is equal to (Z = Z / XZ /= X) is equal to (Z = Z / X) |
8 | = | The value of the right operand is assigned to the left operand. | Z = X + Y assigns the value of X + Y into Z |