Python Operators

In Python programming, operators are used to perform operations on operands (i.e. variables and values).

Python categorizes the operators in the following groups:

Arithmetic operators
Assignment operators
Relational operators
Logical operators
Identity operators
Membership operators
Bit-wise operators

1. Arithmetic Operators:

These operators are used with numeric values to perform common mathematical operations.

Table 1: Arithmetic operators in Python
Operator	Meaning	Example
+	Add two operands	x + y
–	Subtract right operand from the left	x – y
*	Multiply two operands	x * y
/	Divide left operand by the right one (always results into float)	x / y
%	Modulus – remainder of the division of left operand by the right	x % y
//	Floor division – division that results into whole number adjusted to the left in the number line	x // y
**	Exponent – left operand raised to the power of right	x**y

Example 1

# Arithmetic operators in Python
x = 27
y = 4
print(x+y)  # addition
print(x-y)  # subtraction
print(x*y)  # multiplication
print(x/y)  # division (float)
print(x%y)  # modulus 
print(x//y) # division (int)
print(x**y) # exponent

Output:

2. Assignment Operators:

These operators are used to assign values to variables.

Table 2: Assignment operators in Python
Operator	Example	Equivalent to
=	x = 5	x = 5
+=	x += 5	x = x + 5
-=	x -= 5	x = x – 5
*=	x *= 5	x = x * 5
/=	x /= 5	x = x / 5
%=	x %= 5	x = x % 5
//=	x //= 5	x = x // 5
**=	x **= 5	x = x ** 5
&=	x &= 5	x = x & 5
\|=	x \|= 5	x = x \| 5
^=	x ^= 5	x = x ^ 5
>>=	x >>= 5	x = x >> 5
<<=	x <<= 5	x = x << 5

Example 2

# Assignment operators in Python
x = 5
x = x + 5  # x += 5
print(x)
x = x - 5  # x -= 5
print(x)
x = x * 5  # x *= 5
print(x)
x = x / 5  # x /= 5
print(x)
x = x % 5  # x %= 5
print(x)

Output:

3. Relational Operators:

These operators are used to compare two values.

Table 3: Relational operators in Python
Operator	Meaning	Example
>	Greater that – True if left operand is greater than the right	x > y
<	Less that – True if left operand is less than the right	x < y
==	Equal to – True if both operands are equal	x == y
!=	Not equal to – True if operands are not equal	x != y
>=	Greater than or equal to – True if left operand is greater than or equal to the right	x >= y
<=	Less than or equal to – True if left operand is less than or equal to the right	x <= y

Example 3

# Relational operators in Python
a = 10
b = 5
print(a>b)  # True
print(a<b)  # False
print(a==b) # False
print(a!=b) # True
print(a>=b) # True
print(a<=b) # False

Output:

True
False
False
True
True
False

4. Logical Operators:

These operators are used to combine conditional statements.

Table 4: Logical operators in Python
Operator	Meaning	Example
and	True if both the operands are true	x and y
or	True if either of the operands is true	x or y
not	True if operand is false (complements the operand)	not x

Example 4

# Logical operators in Python
print("Logical AND : ", (10>5) and (9<7)) # False
print("Logical  OR : ", (10>5) or (9<7))  # True
print("Logical NOT : ", not(9<7))         # True

Output:

Logical AND : False
Logical  OR : True
Logical NOT : True

5. Identity Operators:

These operators are used to compare the objects, not if they are equal, but if they are actually the same object, with the same memory location.

Table 5: Identity operators in Python
Operator	Meaning	Example
is	True if the operands are identical (refer to the same object)	x is True
is not	True if the operands are not identical (do not refer to the same object)	x is not True

Example 5

# Identity operators in Python
print("Identity operators:-")
x = True
print(x is True)      # True
print(x is not True)  # False

Output:

Identity operators:-
True
False

6. Membership Operators:

These operators are used to test if a sequence is present in an object.

Table 6: Membership operators in Python
Operator	Meaning	Example
in	True if value/variable is found in the sequence	5 is x
not in	True if value/variable is not found in the sequence	5 not in x

Example 6

# Membership operators in Python
print("Membership operators:-")
arr = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]
x = 40
print(x in arr)     # True
x = 60
print(x not in arr) # True

Output:

Membership operators:-
True
True

7. Bit-wise Operators:

These operators are used to compare binary numbers.

For example, in the table below, let x = 10 (0000 1010 in binary) and y = 4 (0000 0100 in binary)

Table 7: Bit-wise operators in Python
Operator	Meaning	Example
&	Bit-wise AND	x& y = 0 (`0000 0000`)
\|	Bit-wise OR	x \| y = 14 (`0000 1110`)
~	Bit-wise NOT	~x = -11 (`1111 0101`)
^	Bit-wise XOR	x ^ y = 14 (`0000 1110`)
>>	Bit-wise right shift	x>> 2 = 2 (`0000 0010`)
<<	Bit-wise left shift	x<< 2 = 40 (`0010 1000`)

Example 7

# Bit-wise operators in Python
x = 10
y = 4
print(x & y)  # Bit-wise AND: 0
print(x | y)  # Bit-wise OR: 14
print(~x)     # Bit-wise NOT: -11
print(x ^ y)  # Bit-wise XOR: 14
print(x>>2)   # Bit-wise right shift: 2
print(x<<2)   # Bit-wise left shift: 40

Output: