C# Operators

C# provides a large set of operators, which are symbols that specify which operations to perform in an expression. Operations on integral types such as ==, !=, <, >, <=, >=, binary +, binary -, ^, &, |, ~, ++, --, and sizeof() are generally allowed on enumerations. In addition, many operators can be overloaded by the user, thus changing their meaning when applied to a user-defined type.

The following table lists the C# operators grouped in order of precedence. Operators within each group have equal precedence.

Operator category	Operators
Primary	x.y f(x) a[x] x++ x-- new typeof checked unchecked ->
Unary	+ - ! ~ ++x --x (T)x true false & sizeof
Multiplicative	* / %
Additive	+ -
Shift	<< >>
Relational and type testing	< > <= >= is as
Equality	== !=
Logical AND	&
Logical XOR	^
Logical OR	|
Conditional AND	&&
Conditional OR	||
Conditional	?:
Assignment	= += -= *= /= %= &= |= ^= <<= >>=
Null-coalescing	??
Lambda	=> Operator (C# Reference)

Arithmetic Overflow

The arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /) can produce results that are outside the range of possible values for the numeric type involved. You should refer to the section on a particular operator for details, but in general:

• Integer arithmetic overflow either throws an OverflowException or discards the most significant bits of the result. Integer division by zero always throws a DivideByZeroException.

• Floating-point arithmetic overflow or division by zero never throws an exception, because floating-point types are based on IEEE 754 and so have provisions for representing infinity and NaN (Not a Number).

• Decimal arithmetic overflow always throws an OverflowException. Decimal division by zero always throws a DivideByZeroException.

When integer overflow occurs, what happens depends on the execution context, which can be checked or unchecked. In a checked context, an OverflowException is thrown. In an unchecked context, the most significant bits of the result are discarded and execution continues. Thus, C# gives you the choice of handling or ignoring overflow.

In addition to the arithmetic operators, integral-type to integral-type casts can cause overflow, for example, casting a long to an int, and are subject to checked or unchecked execution. However, bitwise operators and shift operators never cause overflow.

See Also

Tasks

Operator Overloading Sample

Concepts

C# Programming Guide

Reference

Overloadable Operators (C# Programming Guide)

C# Keywords

Other Resources

C# Reference

Visual C#

Change History

Date	History	Reason
July 2008	Moved ?? operator out of assignment category per customer suggestion.	Content bug fix.