Operators in Python

Complete guide to Python operators: arithmetic, assignment, comparison, logical, bitwise, identity, membership, conditional expressions, and operator precedence.

Introduction to Operators

Operators are symbols that perform operations on values (operands). They are used to build expressions and logic in Python.

1. What are Operators?

Operators work on operands.

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform mathematical operations.

1. + - * / % // **

Basic arithmetic operators in Python.

Assignment Operators

Assignment operators assign values and can combine with arithmetic.

1. = += -= *= /=

Compound assignment operators.

Comparison Operators

Comparison operators return boolean values.

1. == !=

Equality and inequality.

2. < > <= >=

Relational comparisons.

Logical Operators

Logical operators combine multiple conditions.

1. and or not

Logical operators in Python.

Membership Operators

Python provides membership operators for sequences.

1. in not in

Check presence in list or string.

Identity Operators

Identity operators check whether two variables reference the same object.

1. is is not

Compare object identity.

Conditional Expression

Python supports a compact conditional expression similar to ternary.

1. value1 if condition else value2

Inline conditional.

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators work directly on the binary representation of integers. Python integers are not limited to 32 bits like JavaScript, but bitwise operations still follow binary mathematics.

1. Binary Representation (Important Foundation)

Understanding binary numbers is mandatory before learning bitwise operators.

2. Bitwise AND (&)

Returns 1 only if both bits are 1.

3. Bitwise OR (|)

Returns 1 if at least one bit is 1.

4. Bitwise XOR (^)

Returns 1 if bits are different.

5. Bitwise NOT (~)

Inverts all bits using two’s complement.

6. Left Shift (<<)

Shifts bits to the left (multiplies by powers of 2).

7. Right Shift (>>)

Shifts bits to the right (divides by powers of 2).

8. Practical Use Cases

Where bitwise operators are actually used.

Operator Precedence

Precedence determines how expressions are evaluated.

1. Precedence Example

Use parentheses to control order.

2. Operator Precedence Table

Higher precedence operators are evaluated first. When in doubt, use parentheses.