Java Operators

4 min readFeb 14, 2023

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In this tutorial, you’ll learn about different types of operators in Java, their syntax, and how to use them with the help of examples.

Operators are symbols that perform operations on variables and values. For example, + is an operator used for addition, while * is an operator used for multiplication.

The most important operators type that we will cover in this tutorial are:

Arithmetic Operators
Assignment Operators
Relational Operators
Logical Operators

1. Java Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform arithmetic operations on variables and data. For example:

a + b;

Here, the + operator is used to add two variables a and b .

A list of all arithmetic operators:

Example 1: Arithmetic Operators

class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    
    // declare variables
    int a = 12, b = 5;

    // addition operator
    System.out.println("a + b = " + (a + b));

    // subtraction operator
    System.out.println("a - b = " + (a - b));

    // multiplication operator
    System.out.println("a * b = " + (a * b));

    // division operator
    System.out.println("a / b = " + (a / b));

    // modulo operator
    System.out.println("a % b = " + (a % b));
  }
}

Output

a + b = 17
a - b = 7 
a * b = 60
a / b = 2 
a % b = 2

In the above example, we have used +, -, and * operators to compute addition, subtraction, and multiplication operations.

/ Division Operator

Note the operation, a / b in our program. The / operator is the division operator.

If we use the division operator with two integers, then the resulting quotient will also be an integer. And, if one of the operands is a floating-point number, we will get the result will also be in floating-point.

In Java,

(9 / 2) is 4
(9.0 / 2) is 4.5
(9 / 2.0) is 4.5
(9.0 / 2.0) is 4.5

% Modulo Operator

The modulo operator % computes the remainder. When a = 7 is divided by b = 4, the remainder is 3.

Note: The % operator is mainly used with integers.

2. Java Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used in Java to assign values to variables. For example:

int age;
age = 5;

Here, = is the assignment operator. It assigns the value on its right to the variable on its left. That is, 5 is assigned to the variable age.

A list of all assignment operators:

Example 2: Assignment Operators

class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    
    // create variables
    int a = 4;
    int var;

    // assign value using =
    var = a;
    System.out.println("var using = is " + var);

    // assign value using =+
    var += a;
    System.out.println("var using += is " + var);

    // assign value using =*
    var *= a;
    System.out.println("var using *= is " + var);
  }
}

Output

var using = is 4
var using += is 8 
var using *= is 32

3. Java Relational (Comparison) Operators

Comparison operators are used to comparing two values (or variables). This is important in programming because it helps us to find answers and make decisions.

The return value of a comparison is either true or false. These values are known as Boolean values.

For example:

// check if a is less than b
a < b;

Here, < operator is the relational operator. It checks if a is less than b or not. It returns either true or false.

A list of all relational operators:

Example 3: Relational Operators

class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    
    // create variables
    int a = 7, b = 11;

    // value of a and b
    System.out.println("a is " + a + " and b is " + b);

    // == operator
    System.out.println(a == b);  // false

    // != operator
    System.out.println(a != b);  // true

    // > operator
    System.out.println(a > b);  // false

    // < operator
    System.out.println(a < b);  // true

    // >= operator
    System.out.println(a >= b);  // false

    // <= operator
    System.out.println(a <= b);  // true
  }
}

4. Java Logical Operators

Logical operators are also used to check whether an expression is true or false. They too are used in decision-making.

A list of all logical operators:

Example 4: Logical Operators

class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {

    // && operator
    System.out.println((5 > 3) && (8 > 5));  // true
    System.out.println((5 > 3) && (8 < 5));  // false

    // || operator
    System.out.println((5 < 3) || (8 > 5));  // true
    System.out.println((5 > 3) || (8 < 5));  // true
    System.out.println((5 < 3) || (8 < 5));  // false

    // ! operator
    System.out.println(!(5 == 3));  // true
    System.out.println(!(5 > 3));  // false
  }
}