Operators are symbols that perform operations on operands. For example, in 7 + 3 = 10, the values 7 and 3 are operands, while + is the operator. Python supports the following categories of operators:

1. Arithmetic operators
2. Comparison (relational) operators
3. Assignment operators
4. Logical operators
5. Bitwise operators
6. Membership operators
7. Identity operators
8. Operator precedence

Arithmetic Operators

Assume x = 15 and y = 4 for the examples below:

Code example:

val_one = 15
val_two = 4
result = 0

result = val_one + val_two
print("Addition result:", result)

result = val_one - val_two
print("Subtraction result:", result)

result = val_one * val_two
print("Multiplication result:", result)

result = val_one / val_two
print("Division result:", result)

result = val_one % val_two
print("Modulo result:", result)

# Update values
val_one = 3
val_two = 4
result = val_one ** val_two
print("Exponentiation result:", result)

val_one = 17
val_two = 3
result = val_one // val_two
print("Floor division result:", result)

Comparison Operators

Assume num_a = 8 and num_b = 12 for the examples below:

Code example:

num_one = 8
num_two = 12

if num_one == num_two:
    print("Numbers are equal")
else:
    print("Numbers are not equal")

if num_one != num_two:
    print("Numbers are not equal")
else:
    print("Numbers are equal")

if num_one < num_two:
    print("First number is smaller")
else:
    print("First number is larger or equal")

if num_one > num_two:
    print("First number is larger")
else:
    print("First number is smaller or equal")

# Update values
num_one = 7
num_two = 7
if num_one <= num_two:
    print("First number is smaller or equal")
else:
    print("First number is larger")

if num_two >= num_one:
    print("Second number is larger or equal")
else:
    print("Second number is smaller")

Assignment Operators

Assume p = 5 and q = 9 for the examples below:

Code example:

p = 5
q = 9
res = 0

res = p + q
print("Basic assignment:", res)

res += p
print("Add and assign:", res)

res *= p
print("Multiply and assign:", res)

res /= p
print("Divide and assign:", res)

res = 3
res %= p
print("Modulo and assign:", res)

res **= p
print("Exponentiate and assign:", res)

res //= p
print("Floor divide and assign:", res)

Walrus operator example:

# Traditional approach
length = 12
if length > 10:
    print(f"Length is {length}")

# Using walrus operator
if (length := 12) > 10:
    print(f"Length is {length}")

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators work on values as binary digits. Assume binary_a = 60 (binary: 00111100) and binary_b = 13 (binary: 00001101).

Code example:

binary_a = 60  # 00111100
binary_b = 13  # 00001101
result = 0

result = binary_a & binary_b
print("Bitwise AND:", result)

result = binary_a | binary_b
print("Bitwise OR:", result)

result = binary_a ^ binary_b
print("Bitwise XOR:", result)

result = ~binary_a
print("Bitwise NOT:", result)

result = binary_a << 2
print("Left shift:", result)

result = binary_a >> 2
print("Right shift:", result)

Logical Operators

Assume m = 6 and n = 9 for the examples below:

Code example:

a = 6
b = 9

if a and b:
    print("Both values are truthy")
else:
    print("At least one value is falsy")

if a or b:
    print("At least one value is truthy")
else:
    print("Both values are falsy")

# Update a
a = 0
if a and b:
    print("Both values are truthy")
else:
    print("At least one value is falsy")

if a or b:
    print("At least one value is truthy")
else:
    print("Both values are falsy")

if not(a and b):
    print("At least one value is falsy")
else:
    print("Both values are truthy")

Membership Operators

These operators check for membership in sequences like lists, tuples, or strings.

Code example:

value_one = 3
value_two = 10
sample_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

if value_one in sample_list:
    print("Value exists in list")
else:
    print("Value not in list")

if value_two not in sample_list:
    print("Value not in list")
else:
    print("Value exists in list")

Identity Operators

These operators compare the memory identity of objects.

The id() function returns the unique memory address of an object.

Code example:

obj_a = 100
obj_b = 100

if obj_a is obj_b:
    print("Same object identity")
else:
    print("Different object identity")

if id(obj_a) == id(obj_b):
    print("Same object identity")
else:
    print("Different object identity")

obj_b = 200
if obj_a is obj_b:
    print("Same object identity")
else:
    print("Different object identity")

if obj_a is not obj_b:
    print("Different object identity")
else:
    print("Same object identity")

Difference between is and ==:

• is checks if two variables reference the same object in memory.
• == checks if the values of two objects are equal.

list_x = [4, 5, 6]
list_y = list_x
print(list_y is list_x)   # True
print(list_y == list_x)   # True

list_y = list_x.copy()
print(list_y is list_x)   # False
print(list_y == list_x)   # True

Operator Precedence

Operators are evaluated in the following order, from highest to lowest priority. Operators in the same row have the same priority and evaluate left-to-right (except exponentiation, which evaluates right-to-left):