What are Operators in Java?

Operators are special symbols used to perform operations on variables and values.

Java operators are used for mathematical calculations, comparisons, conditions, assignments, and logical operations.

Types of Java Operators

Arithmetic Operators
Assignment Operators
Relational Operators
Logical Operators
Unary Operators
Bitwise Operators
Ternary Operator

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used for mathematical calculations.

Operator	Description	Example
+	Addition	a + b
-	Subtraction	a - b
*	Multiplication	a * b
/	Division	a / b
%	Modulus	a % b

Example

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int a = 10;
        int b = 5;

        System.out.println(a + b);

        System.out.println(a - b);

        System.out.println(a * b);

        System.out.println(a / b);

        System.out.println(a % b);

    }

}

Output

Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.

Operator	Description	Example
=	Assign value	x = 10
+=	Add and assign	x += 5
-=	Subtract and assign	x -= 2
*=	Multiply and assign	x *= 3
/=	Divide and assign	x /= 2

Example

int x = 10;

x += 5;

System.out.println(x);

x -= 2;

System.out.println(x);

x *= 3;

System.out.println(x);

Output

15
13
39

Relational Operators

Relational operators compare two values and return true or false.

Operator	Description	Example
==	Equal to	a == b
!=	Not equal to	a != b
>	Greater than	a > b
<	Less than	a < b
>=	Greater than or equal to	a >= b
<=	Less than or equal to	a <= b

Example

int a = 10;
int b = 20;

System.out.println(a == b);

System.out.println(a != b);

System.out.println(a < b);

System.out.println(a > b);

Output

false
true
true
false

Logical Operators

Logical operators are used with boolean values.

Operator	Description	Example
&&	Logical AND	a > 5 && b > 5
\|\|	Logical OR	a > 5 \|\| b > 5
!	Logical NOT	!(a > b)

Example

int age = 20;

System.out.println(age > 18 && age < 30);

System.out.println(age > 50 || age < 25);

System.out.println(!(age > 18));

Unary Operators

Unary operators work on a single operand.

Operator	Description
++	Increment
--	Decrement

Example

int x = 5;

x++;

System.out.println(x);

x--;

System.out.println(x);

Output

6
5

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators perform operations at bit level.

Operator	Description
&	Bitwise AND
\|	Bitwise OR
^	Bitwise XOR

Ternary Operator

Ternary operator is a shorthand form of if-else statement.

int age = 18;

String result = (age >= 18) ? "Adult" : "Minor";

System.out.println(result);

Output

Adult

Operator Precedence

Operator precedence determines which operation is executed first.

int result = 10 + 5 * 2;

System.out.println(result);

Output

Multiplication is executed before addition.

Complete Java Operators Program

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int a = 10;
        int b = 5;

        System.out.println(a + b);

        System.out.println(a > b);

        System.out.println(a == b);

        System.out.println(a != b);

        a++;

        System.out.println(a);

    }

}

Best Practices

Use meaningful variable names
Use parentheses for better readability
Avoid complex expressions
Understand operator precedence properly
Use logical operators carefully

Common Errors

Using = instead of ==
Division by zero
Incorrect operator precedence
Using wrong logical operators

Conclusion

Java operators are essential for performing calculations, comparisons, logical operations, and assignments. Understanding operators is very important for writing efficient Java programs.