Skip to main content

Data types and operators in C

Short answer

Data type defines value range, memory size and allowed operations. C operators include arithmetic (+, -, *, /, %), relational, logical, assignment (=, +=), increment, bitwise, conditional (?:), special. Precedence: parentheses highest, comma lowest; associativity mostly left‑to‑right, right‑to‑left for unary/assignment.

What is a data type? Explain the operators available in C along with their precedence and associativity.

Data type

A data type specifies the kind of value a variable can hold, the memory it takes and the operations allowed on it. C has basic types (int, float, double, char), derived types (array, pointer, structure, union) and void.

Operators in C

TypeOperatorsExample
Arithmetic+ - * / %a % b
Relational< <= > >= == !=a > b
Logical&& || !a>0 && b>0
Assignment= += -= *= /= %=a += 5
Increment/decrement++ --i++
Bitwise& | ^ ~ << >>a & b
Conditional?:max = a>b ? a : b
Specialsizeof, ,, &, *, ., ->sizeof(int)

Sample program (output 9 5 14 3 1, then 1 0 0, 10, 10, 2):

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
    int a = 7, b = 2;
    printf("%d %d %d %d %d\n", a + b, a - b, a * b, a / b, a % b);
    printf("%d %d %d\n", a > b, a == b, (a > 3) && (b > 3));
    a += 3;
    printf("%d\n", a);
    printf("%d\n", a > b ? a : b);
    printf("%d\n", a & b);
    return 0;
}

Output:

9 5 14 3 1
1 0 0
10
10
2

Precedence and associativity (highest to lowest)

LevelOperatorsAssociativity
1() [] . ->left to right
2! ~ ++ -- + - (unary) * & sizeof (type)right to left
3* / %left to right
4+ -left to right
5<< >>left to right
6< <= > >=left to right
7== !=left to right
8& then ^ then |left to right
9&& then ||left to right
10?:right to left
11= += -= *= /= %= etc.right to left
12,left to right

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

Related questions

All Computer Programming chapter 3 questions →