Python Operators Explained

Python operators in software development are special symbols or keywords used to perform operations on values and variables. These operations can be arithmetic, comparisons, logical decisions, bit manipulations, assignments, and more.

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Python groups operators into seven major categories:

1. Arithmetic Operators
2. Comparison (Relational) Operators
3. Logical Operators
4. Assignment Operators
5. Bitwise Operators
6. Membership Operators
7. Identity Operators

Let’s break each one down with simple examples.

1. Arithmetic Operators

Used for mathematical operations.

Operator	Meaning	Example
+	Addition	3 + 2 → 5
-	Subtraction	5 - 1 → 4
*	Multiplication	4 * 3 → 12
/	Division	10 / 2 → 5.0
%	Modulus (remainder)	10 % 3 → 1
**	Exponentiation	2 ** 3 → 8
//	Floor division	7 // 2 → 3

Example:

a = 7
b = 3

print(a + b)   # 10
print(a % b)   # 1
print(a ** b)  # 343

2. Comparison Operators

Used to compare values. They return True or False.

Operator	Meaning	Example
==	Equal to	5 == 5 → True
!=	Not equal	5 != 3 → True
>	Greater than	4 > 2 → True
<	Less than	3 < 1 → False
>=	Greater or equal	4 >= 4 → True
<=	Less or equal	2 <= 3 → True

Example:

x = 10
y = 20

print(x < y)   # True
print(x == y)  # False

3. Logical Operators

Used for boolean logic operations.

Operator	Meaning
and	True if both conditions are true
or	True if at least one is true
not	Negates a boolean

Example:

x = 5
print(x > 2 and x < 10)  # True
print(x < 2 or x == 5)   # True
print(not(x == 5))       # False

4. Assignment Operators

Used to assign values and perform compound assignment.

Operator	Meaning	Example
=	Assign	x = 10
+=	Add and assign	x += 3
-=	Subtract and assign	x -= 2
*=	Multiply and assign	x *= 4
/=	Divide and assign	x /= 2
%=	Modulus assign	x %= 3
**=	Power assign	x **= 2
//=	Floor divide assign	x //= 3

Example:

x = 10
x += 5  # x = x + 5
print(x)  # 15

5. Bitwise Operators

Used to perform operations on binary numbers.

Operator	Meaning	Example
&	AND	5 & 3 → 1
`	`	OR
^	XOR	5 ^ 3 → 6
~	NOT	~5 → -6
<<	Left shift	5 << 1 → 10
>>	Right shift	5 >> 1 → 2

Example:

a = 5   # 101 in binary
b = 3   # 011 in binary
print(a & b)  # 1
print(a | b)  # 7

 6. Membership Operators

Check if a value exists in a sequence (list, string, tuple).

Operator	Meaning
in	True if value is present
not in	True if value is not present

Example:

nums = [1, 2, 3, 4]
print(3 in nums)        # True
print(5 not in nums)    # True

7. Identity Operators

Check if two variables reference the same object in memory.

Operator	Meaning
is	True if identical objects
is not	True if not identical

Example:

a = [1, 2]
b = a
c = [1, 2]

print(a is b)      # True (same object)
print(a is c)      # False (same content, different object)

Summary

Python operators allow you to:

• Do math operations
• Compare values
• Combine conditions
• Manipulate bits
• Assign values efficiently
• Test membership and identity

They form the foundation of logical and mathematical operations in Python programming.

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