Arithmetic, Assignment, and Compound Operators0%

Relational, Equality, and Three-Way Comparison (Spaceship Operator <=>)

Arithmetic, Assignment, and Compound Operators

Beginner11 min read•Updated: 2026-10-22

➗ Arithmetic, Assignment, and Compound Operators

Introduction

Operators form the computational engine of C++ expressions. C++ provides standard mathematical operators alongside efficient compound assignment and increment/decrement shortcuts.

🧮 Basic Arithmetic Operators

Operator	Meaning	Example	Result
`+`	Addition	`10 + 5`	`15`
`-`	Subtraction	`10 - 5`	`5`
`*`	Multiplication	`10 * 5`	`50`
`/`	Division	`10 / 4`	`2` (Integer division truncates!)
`%`	Modulus (Remainder)	`10 % 3`	`1`

1#include <iostream>
2 
3int main() {
4    int totalHours = 50;
5    int days = totalHours / 24;
6    int remainingHours = totalHours % 24;
7 
8    std::cout << totalHours << " hours = " << days << " days and " << remainingHours << " hours.\n";
9    return 0;
10}

⚡ Compound Assignment Operators

Compound operators execute the operation and assign the result in a single step:

a += b is equivalent to a = a + b
a -= b is equivalent to a = a - b
a *= b is equivalent to a = a * b
a /= b is equivalent to a = a / b
a %= b is equivalent to a = a % b

🔄 Prefix vs Postfix Increment (`++x` vs `x++`)

1#include <iostream>
2 
3int main() {
4    int x = 5;
5    int y = ++x; // Prefix: increments x FIRST, then returns new value (x=6, y=6)
6    
7    int a = 5;
8    int b = a++; // Postfix: returns original value FIRST, then increments a (b=5, a=6)
9 
10    std::cout << "Prefix: x=" << x << ", y=" << y << "\n";
11    std::cout << "Postfix: a=" << a << ", b=" << b << "\n";
12    return 0;
13}

Performance Tip:

In C++, prefer prefix ++i over postfix i++ when writing loops and iterators, because postfix requires constructing a temporary copy of the previous state.

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Relational, Equality, and Three-Way Comparison (Spaceship Operator <=>)

Arithmetic, Assignment, and Compound Operators

Beginner11 min read•Updated: 2026-10-22

Study Materials

➗ Arithmetic, Assignment, and Compound Operators

Introduction

Operators form the computational engine of C++ expressions. C++ provides standard mathematical operators alongside efficient compound assignment and increment/decrement shortcuts.

🧮 Basic Arithmetic Operators

Operator	Meaning	Example	Result
`+`	Addition	`10 + 5`	`15`
`-`	Subtraction	`10 - 5`	`5`
`*`	Multiplication	`10 * 5`	`50`
`/`	Division	`10 / 4`	`2` (Integer division truncates!)
`%`	Modulus (Remainder)	`10 % 3`	`1`

1#include <iostream>
2 
3int main() {
4    int totalHours = 50;
5    int days = totalHours / 24;
6    int remainingHours = totalHours % 24;
7 
8    std::cout << totalHours << " hours = " << days << " days and " << remainingHours << " hours.\n";
9    return 0;
10}

⚡ Compound Assignment Operators

Compound operators execute the operation and assign the result in a single step:

a += b is equivalent to a = a + b
a -= b is equivalent to a = a - b
a *= b is equivalent to a = a * b
a /= b is equivalent to a = a / b
a %= b is equivalent to a = a % b

🔄 Prefix vs Postfix Increment (`++x` vs `x++`)

1#include <iostream>
2 
3int main() {
4    int x = 5;
5    int y = ++x; // Prefix: increments x FIRST, then returns new value (x=6, y=6)
6    
7    int a = 5;
8    int b = a++; // Postfix: returns original value FIRST, then increments a (b=5, a=6)
9 
10    std::cout << "Prefix: x=" << x << ", y=" << y << "\n";
11    std::cout << "Postfix: a=" << a << ", b=" << b << "\n";
12    return 0;
13}

Performance Tip:

In C++, prefer prefix ++i over postfix i++ when writing loops and iterators, because postfix requires constructing a temporary copy of the previous state.

Next Lesson

Relational, Equality, and Three-Way Comparison (Spaceship Operator <=>)

Continue learning with hands-on practice, examples, and exercises in the upcoming topic.

Related Lessons

Previous Lesson	Next Lesson
Variable Scope, Initialization Styles (Uniform Initializer {}), and Lifetime	Relational, Equality, and Three-Way Comparison (Spaceship Operator <=>)

Practice Quiz

Test your understanding of this lesson with 1 questions. Each question has one correct answer.

Previous Next

➗ Arithmetic, Assignment, and Compound Operators

Introduction

🧮 Basic Arithmetic Operators

⚡ Compound Assignment Operators

🔄 Prefix vs Postfix Increment (++x vs x++)

Performance Tip:

Relational, Equality, and Three-Way Comparison (Spaceship Operator <=>)

Related Lessons

Practice Quiz

Loading Page Content...

➗ Arithmetic, Assignment, and Compound Operators

Introduction

🧮 Basic Arithmetic Operators

⚡ Compound Assignment Operators

🔄 Prefix vs Postfix Increment (++x vs x++)

Performance Tip:

Relational, Equality, and Three-Way Comparison (Spaceship Operator <=>)

Related Lessons

Practice Quiz

🔄 Prefix vs Postfix Increment (`++x` vs `x++`)

🔄 Prefix vs Postfix Increment (`++x` vs `x++`)