Python Operators: Arithmetic, Comparison, Logical, Assignment

Operators can manipulate an individual item and returns the result. The data items are referred to as operands or arguments. Keywords or special characters either represent operators. Python Operator is used to perform operations on variables and values. For example, for identity operators, we use the keyword “is” and “is not“.

What is an Operator in Python

Operators in Python are unique symbols that carry out arithmetic or logical calculation. A value that the Python operator runs on is called the operand. Operators are used to performing the operations on values and variables. In this post, you will learn everything about different kinds of operators in Python, their syntax, and how to use them with brief examples. 

Let’s see the following code example.

print(11 + 21)

See the output.

➜  pyt python3 app.py
32
➜  pyt

Here, + is the operator that performs addition. 11 and 21 are the operands, and 32 is the output of the operation.

Python Operators

Python divides the operators into the following groups:

1. Arithmetic operators
2. Assignment operators
3. Comparison operators
4. Logical operators
5. Identity operators
6. Membership operators
7. Bitwise operators

Python Arithmetic Operator

Arithmetic operators are used with numeric values to perform everyday mathematical operations. 

Arithmetic Operators perform different arithmetic computations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, %modulus, exponent, etc.

There are several methods for arithmetic computation in Python you can use the eval function, declare variable & calculate, or call functions.

Operator	Meaning	Example
+	Add two operands or unary plus.	a + b +2
–	Subtract the right operand from the left or unary minus.	a – b -2
*	Multiply two operands.	a * b
/	Divide left operand by the right one (always results in float).	a / b
%	Modulus: the remainder of the division of left operand by the right.	a % b (remainder of a/b)
//	Floor division: division that results in the whole number adjusted to the left in the number line.	a // b
**	Exponent: left operand raised to the power of right.	a**b (a to the power b)

Arithmetic Operators Example In Python

See the following code.

# app.py

a = 11
b = 21

print('a + b =', a+b)

print('a - b =', a-b)

print('a * b =', a*b)

print('a / b =', a/b)

print('a // b =', a//b)

print('a ** b =', a**b)

See the output.

➜  pyt python3 app.py
a + b = 32
a - b = -10
a * b = 231
a / b = 0.5238095238095238
a // b = 0
a ** b = 7400249944258160101211
➜  pyt

Python Assignment Operator

Python assignment operators assign the value of the right operand to a left operand. Multiple assignment operators used in Python are (+=, – = , *=, /= , etc.).

Example: Python assignment operators is to assign the value, for example.

a = 11 is a simple assignment operator that assigns the value 5 on the right to the variable an on the left.

There are various compound operators like a += 11 that add to the variable and later assign the same. It is equivalent to a = a + 11.

Operator	Example	Equivatent to
=	a = 11	a = 11
+=	a += 11	a = a + 11
-=	a -= 11	a = a – 11
*=	a *= 11	a = a * 11
/=	a /= 11	a = a / 11
%=	a %= 11	a = a % 11
//=	a //= 11	a = a // 11
**=	a **= 11	a = a ** 11
&=	a &= 11	a = a & 11
|=	a |= 11	a = a | 11
^=	a ^= 11	a = a ^ 11
>>=	a >>= 11	a = a >> 11
<<=	a <<= 11	a = a << 11

 

Python Comparison Operator

Comparison operators are used to compare two values.

It either returns True or False based on the condition.

Operator	Meaning	Example
>	Greater than: True if the left operand is greater than the right	a > b
<	Less than: True if the left operand is less than the right	a < b
==	Equal to: True if both the operands are equal	a == b
!=	Not equal to True if the operands are not equal	a != b
>=	Greater than or equal to True if the left operand is greater than or equal to the right	a >= b
<=	Less than or equal to True if the left operand is less than or equal to the right	a <= b

 

Comparison Operators Example In Python

See the following code.

# app.py

a = 11
b = 21

print('b > a  is', b > a)

print('b < a  is', b < a)

print('b == a is', b == a)

print('b != a is', b != a)

print('b >= a is', b >= a)

print('b <= a is', b <= a)

See the output.

➜  pyt python3 app.py
b > a  is True
b < a  is False
b == a is False
b != a is True
b >= a is True
b <= a is False
➜  pyt

Python Logical Operator

Logical operators are used to combining the conditional statements.

Logical operators are used for conditional statements are True or False.

Logical operators are AND, OR and NOT. For logical operators, the following condition is applied.

1. For AND operator: It returns TRUE if both the operands (right side and left side) are True.
2. For OR operator: It returns TRUE if either of the operand (right side or left side) is True.
3. For NOT operator: returns TRUE if an operand is False.

Operator	Meaning	Example
and	True if both the operands are true.	a and b
or	True if either of the operands is true.	a or b
not	True if the operand is false (complements the operand).	not a

 

Logical Operators Example In Python

See the following code.

# app.py

a = True
b = False

print('a and b is', a and b)

print('a or b is', a or b)

print('not a is', not a)

See the output.

➜  pyt python3 app.py
a and b is False
a or b is True
not a is False
➜  pyt

Python Identity Operator

The is and is not are the identity operators in Python.

They are used to check if the two values (or variables) are located on the identical part of the memory.

Two equal variables do not imply that they are the same.

Identity operators are used to comparing the objects, not if they are equal, but if they are the same object, with the same memory location.

Operator	Meaning	Example
is	True if the operands are same (refer to the same object)	a is True
is not	True if the operands are not similar (do not refer to the same object)	a is not True

 

Identity Operators Example In Python

See the following code.

# app.py

a1 = 11
b1 = 21
a2 = 'Eleven'
b2 = 'Eleven'
a3 = [11, 21, 10]
b3 = [11, 21, 10]

print(a1 is not b1)

print(a2 is b2)

print(a3 is b3)

See the output.

➜  pyt python3 app.py
True
True
False
➜  pyt

Python Membership Operator

Membership operators are used for testing if the sequence is presented in an object.

The in and not in are the membership operators in Python. They are used to test whether the value or variable is found in a sequence (string, list, tuple, set, and dictionary).

Operator	Meaning	Example
in	True if value/variable is found in a sequence	5 in a
not in	True if the value/variable is not found in a sequence	5 not in a

 

Membership Operators Example In Python

See the following code.

# app.py

a = 'Millie Bobby Brown'
b = {1:'x',2:'y'}

print('B' in a)

print('Millie' not in a)

print(1 in b)

print('a' in b)

See the output.

➜  pyt python3 app.py
True
False
True
False
➜  pyt

Python Bitwise Operator

Bitwise operators act on the operands as if they were a string of binary digits.

It operates a bit by bit, hence the name.

Operator	Meaning	Example
&	Bitwise AND	a & b = 0 (0000 0000)
|	Bitwise OR	a | b = 14 (0000 1110)
~	Bitwise NOT	~a = -11 (1111 0101)
^	Bitwise XOR	a ^ b = 14 (0000 1110)
>>	Bitwise right shift	a >> b = 2 (0000 0010)
<<	Bitwise left shift	a << b = 40 (0010 1000)

 

For example, 2 is 10 in the binary, and 7 is 111 in binary.

Summary of Python Operators

Operators in the programming language are used to perform various operations on values and variables. In Python, you can use operators like the following.

1. There are several methods for arithmetic calculation in Python as you can use the eval function, declare variable & calculate, or call functions.
2. Comparison operators often referred to as relational operators are used to comparing the values on either side of them and determine a relation between them.
3. Python assignment operators are to assign a value to a variable.
4. Python also allows you to use the compound assignment operator, in the complicated arithmetic calculation, where you can assign a result of one operand to the other.
5. For AND operator: It returns TRUE if both the operands (right side and left side) are True.
6. For OR operator: It returns TRUE if either of the operand (right side or left side) is True.
7. For NOT operator- returns TRUE if an operand is False.
8. Two membership operators are used in Python. (in, not in).
9. It gives a result based on the variable present in a particular sequence or string.
10. The two identify operators used in the Python are is, is not.
11. It returns true if the two variables point the same object and false otherwise.

Finally, Python Operators Example is over.