Python Operators

There are five groups of operators in the Python programming language: arithmetic, comparison, assignment, logical, identity, membership, and bitwise.

• Arithmetic operators - are used to perform basic mathematical operations
• Comparison operators - are used to compare values, they return a True/False based on the statement
• Assignment operators - are used to perform some operation and assign a value to a variable
• Logical operators - are used to combine conditional statements
• Identity operators - are used to determine if objects are the same
• Membership operators - are used to determine if a value is found in a sequence
• Bitwise operators - are used to perform operations at the bit level

 

Arithmetic Operators

• +: Addition
• -: Subtraction
• *: Multiplication
• /: Division
• //: Floor division - round down division
• %: Modulo operation - remainder from division
• **: Power operation

>>> 8 + 3
11
>>> 8 - 3
5
>>> 8 * 3
24
>>> 8 /3
2.6666666666666665
>>> 16//3
5
>>> 16%3
1
>>> 2**3
8

Order of operation

In Python, just like in Math order of arithmetic operations is governed by PEMDAS - Parentheses, Exponent, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.

>>> 3 + 2 * 8
19
>>> (3 + 2) * 8
40

 

Comparison Operators

• ==: Equal
• !=: Not equal
• >: Greater than
• <: Less than
• >=: Greater than or equal
• <=: Less than or equal

>>> a = 3
>>> b = 8
>>> a == b
False
>>> a != b
True
>>> a > b 
False
>>> a < b
True
>>> a >= b
False
>>> a <= b
True

 

Assignment Operators

• =: Assignment
• +=: Addition assignment
• -=: Subtraction assignment
• *=: Multiplication assignment
• /=: Division assignment
• %=: Modulus assignment
• //=: Floor division assignment
• **=: Power assignment
• &=: Bitwise AND assignment
• |=: Bitwise OR assignment
• ^=: Bitwise XOR assignment
• >>=: Bitwise shift right assignment
• <<=: Bitwise shift left assignment

 

Logical Operators

• and: And logical operation
• or: Or logical operation
• not: Not logical operation

>>> 5 > 3 and 2 > 1
True
>>> 5 > 3 or 2 > 5
True
>>> not(5 > 3) 
False

 

Identity Operators

• is: Is the same object
• is not: Is not the same object

>>> x = [1, 2]
>>> y = [1, 2]
>>> x is y
False
>>> x is not y
True

 

Membership Operators

• in: And logical operation
• not in: Or logical operation

>>> 5 in [3, 5, 8]
True
>>> 5 not in [3, 5, 8]
False

 

Bitwise Operators

• &: Bitwise AND
• |: Bitwise OR
• ^: Bitwise XOR
• >>: Bitwise shift right
• <<: Bitwise shift left

>>> 9 & 3
1
>>> 9 | 3
11
>>> 9 ^ 3 
10
>>> 9 << 2
36
>>> 9 >> 2
2

 

Combining Operators

You can combine the various operators above in various ways, such as:

>>>  x = 3
>>> (x < 5 + 1) and (x > 1)
True