Master Python Operators: A Complete Guide with Examples and Priority Rules

What is an operator?

In Python, an operator is a symbol that performs an operation on one or more operands. For example, in the expression 4 + 5 = 9, 4 and 5 are operands and + is the operator.

Python supports the following types of operators:

Arithmetic operators

Comparison (relational) operators

Assignment operators

Logical operators

Bitwise operators

Membership operators

Identity operators

Operator precedence

Python Arithmetic Operators

Assume variables a = 10 and b = 20. The image below lists all arithmetic operators.

The following image shows the results of applying these operators.

Output:

Python Comparison Operators

With a = 10 and b = 20, the following image shows all comparison operators.

Examples:

Output:

Python Assignment Operators

Assume a = 10 and b = 20. The image below demonstrates all assignment operators.

Output:

Python Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators treat numbers as binary. For a = 60 and b = 13, the binary representations are shown below.

Examples of all bitwise operators:

Output:

Python Logical Operators

With a = 10 and b = 20, the logical operators are demonstrated below.

Output:

Python Membership Operators

Python also supports membership operators for strings, lists, or tuples. The following image shows examples.

Examples:

Output:

Python Identity Operators

Identity operators compare the memory locations of two objects.

Examples:

Output:

Python Operator Precedence

The operators are listed from highest to lowest precedence: ** (exponent), ~ + - (bitwise NOT, unary plus/minus), * / % // (multiplication, division, modulo, floor division), + - (addition, subtraction), >> << (right/left shift), & (bitwise AND), ^ | (bitwise XOR/OR), <= < > >= (comparisons), <> == != (equality), = %= /= //= -= += *= **= (assignments), is is not (identity), in not in (membership), not or and (logical).

Example illustrating precedence:

Output: