Operator (programming)

Programming languages typically support a set of operators: constructs which behave generally like functions, but which differ syntactically or semantically from usual functions. Common simple examples include arithmetic (addition with +, comparison with > and logical operations (such as AND or &&). More involved examples include assignment (usually = or :=), field access in a record or object (usually .), and the scope resolution operator (often ::). Languages usually define a set of built-in operators, and in some cases allow user-defined operators.

Syntactically operators usually contrast to functions. In most languages, functions may be seen as a special form of prefix operator with fixed precedence level and associativity, often with compulsory parentheses e.g. Func(a) (or (Func a) in LISP). Most languages support programmer-defined functions, but cannot really claim to support programmer-defined operators, unless they have more than prefix notation and more than a single precedence level. Semantically operators can be seen as special form of function with different calling notation and a limited number of parameters (usually 1 or 2).

The position of the operator with respect to its operands may be prefix, infix or postfix, and the syntax of an expression involving an operator depends on its arity (number of operands), precedence, and (if applicable), associativity. Most programming languages support binary operators and a few unary operators, with a few supporting more operands, such as the ?: operator in C, which is ternary. There are prefix unary operators, such as unary minus -x, and postfix unary operators, such as post-increment x++; and binary operations are infix, such as x + y or x = y. Infix operations of higher arity require additional symbols, such as the ternary operator ?: in C, written as a ? b : c – indeed, this is the only common example, it is often referred to as the ternary operator. Prefix and postfix operations can support any desired arity, however, such as 1 2 3 4 +.

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