Python Operators : Helpful Guide to Arithmetic, Comparison, Logical & More Operations

Python is a versatile and powerful programming language, widely known for its simplicity and readability. One of the most essential features of Python is its operators, which allow you to perform a variety of operations on variables and data.

From basic arithmetic operations like addition and subtraction to more advanced operations like logical and bitwise computations, Python operators form the foundation of many programming tasks.

This article will delve into the various types of operators in Python, explaining how they work and when to use them, along with examples to illustrate their usage.

What are Python Operators:

Python operators are special symbols or keywords that tell the Python interpreter to perform specific operations on one or more operands. These operations range from mathematical computations to logical evaluations, comparisons, and even bitwise manipulations.

Python Operators act on variables and values to manipulate data, allowing you to create more complex logic and functionality in your code.

List of Python Operators:

Generally, Python Operators are used to perform operations on values and variables. The programming operators of Python are listed below:

1. Arithmetic Operators
2. Assignment Operators
3. Relational Or Comparison Operators
4. Logical Operators
5. Identity Operators
6. Bitwise Operators
7. Membership Operators

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform basic mathematical operations. Python supports all the basic arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and more.

Operator	Description	Example	Result
+	Addition	5 + 3	8
-	Subtraction	5 - 3	2
*	Multiplication	5 * 3	15
/	Division	5 / 2	2.5
%	Modulus (remainder)	5 % 2	1
**	Exponentiation	5 ** 2	25
//	Floor Division	5 // 2	2

Examples:

a = 10
b = 3

# Addition
print(a + b) # Output: 13

# Subtraction
print(a - b) # Output: 7

# Multiplication
print(a * b) # Output: 30

# Division
print(a / b) # Output: 3.3333333333333335

# Modulus
print(a % b) # Output: 1

# Exponentiation
print(a ** b) # Output: 1000

# Floor Division
print(a // b) # Output: 3

Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are used to compare values. They return either True or False depending on the condition.

Operator	Description	Example	Result
==	Equal to	5 == 5	True
!=	Not equal to	5 != 3	True
>	Greater than	5 > 3	True
<	Less than	5 < 3	False
>=	Greater than or equal to	5 >= 3	True
<=	Less than or equal to	5 <= 3	False

Examples:

x = 5
y = 10

# Equal to
print(x == y) # Output: False

# Not equal to
print(x != y) # Output: True

# Greater than
print(x > y) # Output: False

# Less than
print(x < y) # Output: True

# Greater than or equal to
print(x >= y) # Output: False

# Less than or equal to
print(x <= y) # Output: True

Logical Operators

Logical Python operators are used to combine conditional statements. They are mostly used in control flow statements like if, while, and for.

Operator	Description	Example	Result
and	Logical AND	(x > 5) and (y < 15)	False
or	Logical OR	(x > 5) or (y < 15)	True
not	Logical NOT	not(x > 5)	True

Examples:

x = 5
y = 10

# Logical AND
print(x > 3 and y < 15) # Output: True

# Logical OR
print(x > 6 or y < 15) # Output: True

# Logical NOT
print(not(x > 6)) # Output: True

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise Python operators operate on bits and perform bit-by-bit operations. These operators are less commonly used but are powerful in specific scenarios, like low-level programming or optimizing performance.

Operator	Description	Example	Result (Binary)	Result (Decimal)
&	AND	5 & 3	0001	1
`	`	OR	`5	3`
^	XOR	5 ^ 3	0110	6
~	NOT	~5	...11111010	-6
<<	Left Shift	5 << 1	1010	10
>>	Right Shift	5 >> 1	0010	2

Examples:

a = 5 # Binary: 101
b = 3 # Binary: 011

# Bitwise AND
print(a & b) # Output: 1 (Binary: 001)

# Bitwise OR
print(a | b) # Output: 7 (Binary: 111)

# Bitwise XOR
print(a ^ b) # Output: 6 (Binary: 110)

# Bitwise NOT
print(~a) # Output: -6 (Binary: ...11111010)

# Left Shift
print(a << 1) # Output: 10 (Binary: 1010)

# Right Shift
print(a >> 1) # Output: 2 (Binary: 10)

Assignment Operators

Assignment python operators are used to assign values to variables. In addition to the standard assignment =, Python supports several compound assignment operators.

Operator	Description	Example	Equivalent to
=	Assignment	x = 5	x = 5
+=	Add and assign	x += 5	x = x + 5
-=	Subtract and assign	x -= 5	x = x - 5
*=	Multiply and assign	x *= 5	x = x * 5
/=	Divide and assign	x /= 5	x = x / 5
%=	Modulus and assign	x %= 5	x = x % 5
//=	Floor division and assign	x //= 5	x = x // 5
**=	Exponentiation and assign	x **= 5	x = x ** 5
&=	Bitwise AND and assign	x &= 5	x = x & 5
`	=`	Bitwise OR and assign	`x
^=	Bitwise XOR and assign	x ^= 5	x = x ^ 5
<<=	Left shift and assign	x <<= 5	x = x << 5
>>=	Right shift and assign	x >>= 5	x = x >> 5

Example

x = 5

# Add and assign
x += 3 # Equivalent to x = x + 3
print(x) # Output: 8

# Subtract and assign
x -= 2 # Equivalent to x = x - 2
print(x) # Output: 6

# Multiply and assign
x *= 4 # Equivalent to x = x * 4
print(x) # Output: 24

# Divide and assign
x /= 6 # Equivalent to x = x / 6
print(x) # Output: 4.0

# Modulus and assign
x %= 3 # Equivalent to x = x % 3
print(x) # Output: 1.0

# Exponentiation and assign
x **= 3 # Equivalent to x = x ** 3
print(x) # Output: 1.0

Membership Operators

Membership operators check for the presence of a value within a sequence, such as strings, lists, or tuples.

Operator	Description	Example	Result
in	Returns True if a value is found in the sequence	5 in [1, 2, 5]	True
not in	Returns True if a value is not found in the sequence	5 not in [1, 2, 3]	True

Example:

my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# Check membership
print(3 in my_list) # Output: True
print(6 not in my_list) # Output: True

Credits:

• Photo by Douglas Lopes on Unsplash

Conclusion

Operators are the foundation of any Python program. They enable you to perform various operations, from basic arithmetic to advanced bit manipulation and object comparisons. Understanding how to use Python operators effectively is a key step towards becoming proficient in the language.