C# Language Operators
Introduction
In C#, an operator is a program element that is applied to one or more operands in an expression or statement. Operators that take one operand, such as the increment operator (++) or new, are referred to as unary operators. Operators that take two operands, such as arithmetic operators (+,-,*,/), are referred to as binary operators. One operator, the conditional operator (?:), takes three operands and is the sole ternary operator in C#.
Syntax
- public static OperandType operator operatorSymbol(OperandType operand1)
- public static OperandType operator operatorSymbol(OperandType operand1, OperandType2 operand2)
Parameters
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| operatorSymbol | The operator being overloaded, e.g. +, -, /, * |
| OperandType | The type that will be returned by the overloaded operator. |
| operand1 | The first operand to be used in performing the operation. |
| operand2 | The second operand to be used in performing the operation, when doing binary operations. |
| statements | Optional code needed to perform the operation before returning the result. |
Remarks
All operators are defined as static methods and they are not virtual and they are not inherited.
Operator Precedence
All operators have a particular "precedence" depending on which group the operator falls in (operators of the same group have equal precedence). Meaning some operators will be applied before others. What follows is a list of groups (containing their respective operators) ordered by precedence (highest first):
-
Primary Operators
a.b- Member access.a?.b- Null conditional member access.->- Pointer dereferencing combined with member access.f(x)- Function invocation.a[x]- Indexer.a?[x]- Null conditional indexer.x++- Postfix increment.x--- Postfix decrement.new- Type instantiation.default(T)- Returns the default initialized value of typeT.typeof- Returns theTypeobject of the operand.checked- Enables numeric overflow checking.unchecked- Disables numeric overflow checking.delegate- Declares and returns a delegate instance.sizeof- Returns the size in bytes of the type operand.
-
Unary Operators
+x- Returnsx.-x- Numeric negation.!x- Logical negation.~x- Bitwise complement/declares destructors.++x- Prefix increment.--x- Prefix decrement.(T)x- Type casting.await- Awaits aTask.&x- Returns the address (pointer) ofx.*x- Pointer dereferencing.
-
Multiplicative Operators
x * y- Multiplication.x / y- Division.x % y- Modulus.
-
Additive Operators
x + y- Addition.x – y- Subtraction.
-
Bitwise Shift Operators
x << y- Shift bits left.x >> y- Shift bits right.
-
Relational/Type-testing Operators
x < y- Less than.x > y- Greater than.x <= y- Less than or equal to.x >= y- Greater than or equal to.is- Type compatibility.as- Type conversion.
-
Equality Operators
x == y- Equality.x != y- Not equal.
-
Logical AND Operator
x & y- Logical/bitwise AND.
-
Logical XOR Operator
x ^ y- Logical/bitwise XOR.
-
Logical OR Operator
x | y- Logical/bitwise OR.
-
Conditional AND Operator
x && y- Short-circuiting logical AND.
-
Conditional OR Operator
x || y- Short-circuiting logical OR.
-
Null-coalescing Operator
x ?? y- Returnsxif it is not null; otherwise, returnsy.
-
Conditional Operator
x ? y : z- Evaluates/returnsyifxis true; otherwise, evaluatesz.
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