JavaScript Arithmetic Operators
Arithmetic operators perform arithmetic on numbers (literals or variables).
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
| + | Addition |
| – | Subtraction |
| * | Multiplication |
| / | Division |
| % | Modulus (Remainder) |
| ++ | Increment |
| — | Decrement |
Arithmetic Operations
A typical arithmetic operation operates on two numbers.
The two numbers can be literals:
or variables:
or expressions:
Operators and Operands
The numbers (in an arithmetic operation) are called operands.
The operation (to be performed between the two operands) is defined by an operator.
| Operand | Operator | Operand |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | + | 50 |
Adding
The addition operator (+) adds numbers:
Subtracting
The subtraction operator (-) subtracts numbers.
Multiplying
The multiplication operator (*) multiplies numbers.
Dividing
The division operator (/) divides numbers.
Remainder
The modulus operator (%) returns the division remainder.
In arithmetic, the division of two integers produces a quotient and a remainder.
In mathematics, the result of a modulo operation is the remainder of an arithmetic division.
Incrementing
The increment operator (++) increments numbers.
Decrementing
The decrement operator (–) decrements numbers.
Operator Precedence
Operator precedence describes the order in which operations are performed in an arithmetic expression.
Is the result of example above the same as 150 * 3, or is it the same as 100 + 150?
Is the addition or the multiplication done first?
As in traditional school mathematics, the multiplication is done first.
Multiplication (*) and division (/) have higher precedence than addition (+) and subtraction (-).
And (as in school mathematics) the precedence can be changed by using parentheses:
Example
var x = (100 + 50) * 3;
When using parentheses, the operations inside the parentheses are computed first.
When many operations have the same precedence (like addition and subtraction), they are computed from left to right:
Example
var x = 100 + 50 – 3;
JavaScript Operator Precedence Values
Pale red entries indicates ECMAScript 2015 (ES6) or higher.
| Value | Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | ( ) | Expression grouping | (3 + 4) |
| 19 | . | Member | person.name |
| 19 | [] | Member | person[“name”] |
| 19 | () | Function call | myFunction() |
| 19 | new | Create | new Date() |
| 17 | ++ | Postfix Increment | i++ |
| 17 | — | Postfix Decrement | i– |
| 16 | ++ | Prefix Increment | ++i |
| 16 | — | Prefix Decrement | –i |
| 16 | ! | Logical not | !(x==y) |
| 16 | typeof | Type | typeof x |
| 15 | ** | Exponentiation (ES7) | 10 ** 2 |
| 14 | * | Multiplication | 10 * 5 |
| 14 | / | Division | 10 / 5 |
| 14 | % | Division Remainder | 10 % 5 |
| 13 | + | Addition | 10 + 5 |
| 13 | – | Subtraction | 10 – 5 |
| 12 | << | Shift left | x << 2 |
| 12 | >> | Shift right | x >> 2 |
| 12 | >>> | Shift right (unsigned) | x >>> 2 |
| 11 | < | Less than | x < y |
| 11 | <= | Less than or equal | x <= y |
| 11 | > | Greater than | x > y |
| 11 | >= | Greater than or equal | x >= y |
| 11 | in | Propery in Object | “PI” in Math |
| 11 | instanceof | Instance of Object | instanceof Array |
| 10 | == | Equal | x == y |
| 10 | === | Strict equal | x === y |
| 10 | != | Unequal | x != y |
| 10 | !== | Strict unequal | x !== y |
| 9 | & | Bitwise AND | x & y |
| 8 | ^ | Bitwise XOR | x ^ y |
| 7 | | | Bitwise OR | x | y |
| 6 | && | Logical AND | x && y |
| 5 | || | Logical OR | x || y |
| 4 | ? : | Condition | ? “Yes” : “No” |
| 3 | += | Assignment | x += y |
| 3 | += | Assignment | x += y |
| 3 | -= | Assignment | x -= y |
| 3 | *= | Assignment | x *= y |
| 3 | %= | Assignment | x %= y |
| 3 | <<= | Assignment | x <<= y |
| 3 | >>= | Assignment | x >>= y |
| 3 | >>>= | Assignment | x >>>= y |
| 3 | &= | Assignment | x &= y |
| 3 | ^= | Assignment | x ^= y |
| 3 | |= | Assignment | x |= y |
| 2 | yield | Pause Function | yield x |
| 1 | , | Comma | 5 , 6 |
Expressions in parentheses are fully computed before the value is used in the rest of the expression.
