Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.
In the example below, we use the + operator to add together two values:
Python divides the operators in the following groups:
- Arithmetic operators
- Assignment operators
- Comparison operators
- Logical operators
- Identity operators
- Membership operators
- Bitwise operators
Python Arithmetic Operators
· Arithmetic operators are used with numeric values to perform common mathematical operations:
| Operator | Name | Example |
| + | Addition | x + y |
| – | Subtraction | x – y |
| * | Multiplication | x * y |
| / | Division | x / y |
| % | Modulus | x % y |
| ** | Exponentiation | x ** y |
| // | Floor division | x // y |
Python Assignment Operators
Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables:
| Operator | Example | Same As |
| = | x = 5 | x = 5 |
| += | x += 3 | x = x + 3 |
| -= | x -= 3 | x = x – 3 |
| *= | x *= 3 | x = x * 3 |
| /= | x /= 3 | x = x / 3 |
| %= | x %= 3 | x = x % 3 |
| //= | x //= 3 | x = x // 3 |
| **= | x **= 3 | x = x ** 3 |
| &= | x &= 3 | x = x & 3 |
| |= | x |= 3 | x = x | 3 |
| ^= | x ^= 3 | x = x ^ 3 |
| >>= | x >>= 3 | x = x >> 3 |
| <<= | x <<= 3 | x = x << 3 |
| := | print(x := 3) | x = 3 print(x) |
Examples :
X = 5
Print )x)
x = 5
x+=3
print(x)
Python Comparison Operators
Comparison operators are used to compare two values:
| Operator | Name | Example |
| == | Equal | x == y |
| != | Not equal | x != y |
| > | Greater than | x > y |
| < | Less than | x < y |
| >= | Greater than or equal to | x >= y |
| <= | Less than or equal to | x <= y |
Example :
x = 5
y = 3
print(x == y)
# returns False because 5 is not equal to 3
Example 2:
x = 5
y = 3
print(x != y)
# returns True because 5 is not equal to 3
Python Logical Operators
Logical operators are used to combine conditional statements:
| Operator | Description | Example |
| and | Returns True if both statements are true | x < 5 and x < 10 |
| or | Returns True if one of the statements is true | x < 5 or x < 4 |
| not | Reverse the result, returns False if the result is true | not(x < 5 and x < 10) |
Example :
x = 5
print(x > 3 and x < 10)
# returns True because 5 is greater than 3 AND 5 is less than 10
Example 2:
x = 5
print(x > 3 or x < 4)
# returns True because one of the conditions are true (5 is greater than 3, but 5 is not less than 4)
Example 3:
x = 5
print(not(x > 3 and x < 10))
# returns False because not is used to reverse the results
Python Identity Operators
Identity 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:
| Operator | Description | Example |
| is | Returns True if both variables are the same object | x is y |
| is not | Returns True if both variables are not the same object | x is not y |
Example :
x = [“apple”, “banana”]
y = [“apple”, “banana”]
z = x
print(x is z)
# returns True because z is the same object as x
print(x is y)
# returns False because x is not the same object as y, even if they have the same content
print(x == y)
# to demonstrate the difference betweeen “is” and “==”: this comparison returns True because x is equal to y
Example 2:
x = [“apple”, “banana”]
y = [“apple”, “banana”]
z = x
print(x is not z)
# returns False because z is the same object as x
print(x is not y)
# returns True because x is not the same object as y, even if they have the same content
print(x != y)
# to demonstrate the difference between “is not” and “!=”: this comparison returns False because x is equal to y
Python Membership Operators
Membership operators are used to test if a sequence is presented in an object:
| Operator | Description | Example |
| in | Returns True if a sequence with the specified value is present in the object | x in y |
| not in | Returns True if a sequence with the specified value is not present in the object | x not in y |
Example 1 :
x = [“apple”, “banana”]
print(“banana” in x)
# returns True because a sequence with the value “banana” is in the list
Example 2:
x = [“apple”, “banana”]
print(“pineapple” not in x)
# returns True because a sequence with the value “pineapple” is not in the list
Python Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operators are used to compare (binary) numbers:
| Operator | Name | Description | Example |
| & | AND | Sets each bit to 1 if both bits are 1 | x & y |
| | | OR | Sets each bit to 1 if one of two bits is 1 | x | y |
| ^ | XOR | Sets each bit to 1 if only one of two bits is 1 | x ^ y |
| ~ | NOT | Inverts all the bits | ~x |
| << | Zero fill left shift | Shift left by pushing zeros in from the right and let the leftmost bits fall off | x << 2 |
| >> | Signed right shift | Shift right by pushing copies of the leftmost bit in from the left, and let the rightmost bits fall off | x >> 2 |
Example 1 :
print(6 & 3)
“””
The & operator compares each bit and set it to 1 if both are 1, otherwise it is set to 0:
6 = 0000000000000110
3 = 0000000000000011
——————–
2 = 0000000000000010
====================
Decimal numbers and their binary values:
0 = 0000000000000000
1 = 0000000000000001
2 = 0000000000000010
3 = 0000000000000011
4 = 0000000000000100
5 = 0000000000000101
6 = 0000000000000110
7 = 0000000000000111
Example 2:
print(6 | 3)
“””
The | operator compares each bit and set it to 1 if one or both is 1, otherwise it is set to 0:
6 = 0000000000000110
3 = 0000000000000011
——————–
7 = 0000000000000111
====================
Decimal numbers and their binary values:
0 = 0000000000000000
1 = 0000000000000001
2 = 0000000000000010
3 = 0000000000000011
4 = 0000000000000100
5 = 0000000000000101
6 = 0000000000000110
7 = 0000000000000111
Example 3:
print(6 ^ 3)
“””
The ^ operator compares each bit and set it to 1 if only one is 1, otherwise (if both are 1 or both are 0) it is set to 0:
6 = 0000000000000110
3 = 0000000000000011
——————–
5 = 0000000000000101
====================
Decimal numbers and their binary values:
0 = 0000000000000000
1 = 0000000000000001
2 = 0000000000000010
3 = 0000000000000011
4 = 0000000000000100
5 = 0000000000000101
6 = 0000000000000110
7 = 0000000000000111
Example 4:
print(~3)
“””
The ~ operator inverts each bit (0 becomes 1 and 1 becomes 0).
Inverted 3 becomes -4:
3 = 0000000000000011
-4 = 1111111111111100
Decimal numbers and their binary values:
4 = 0000000000000100
3 = 0000000000000011
2 = 0000000000000010
1 = 0000000000000001
0 = 0000000000000000
-1 = 1111111111111111
-2 = 1111111111111110
-3 = 1111111111111101
-4 = 1111111111111100
Example 5:
print(3 << 2)
“””
The << operator inserts the specified number of 0’s (in this case 2) from the right and let the same amount of leftmost bits fall off:
If you push 00 in from the left:
3 = 0000000000000011
becomes
12 = 0000000000001100
Decimal numbers and their binary values:
0 = 0000000000000000
1 = 0000000000000001
2 = 0000000000000010
3 = 0000000000000011
4 = 0000000000000100
5 = 0000000000000101
6 = 0000000000000110
7 = 0000000000000111
8 = 0000000000001000
9 = 0000000000001001
10 = 0000000000001010
11 = 0000000000001011
12 = 0000000000001100
Example 6:
print(8 >> 2)
“””
The >> operator moves each bit the specified number of times to the right. Empty holes at the left are filled with 0’s.
If you move each bit 2 times to the right, 8 becomes 2:
8 = 0000000000001000
becomes
2 = 0000000000000010
Decimal numbers and their binary values:
0 = 0000000000000000
1 = 0000000000000001
2 = 0000000000000010
3 = 0000000000000011
4 = 0000000000000100
5 = 0000000000000101
6 = 0000000000000110
7 = 0000000000000111
8 = 0000000000001000
9 = 0000000000001001
10 = 0000000000001010
11 = 0000000000001011
12 = 0000000000001100
