Python Operators – A Beginner’s Guide

What are Operators?

In Python, operators are special symbols used to perform operations on values and variables. They allow you to perform calculations, compare values, make decisions.

Types of Operators

• Arithmetic Operators
• Comparison (Relational) Operators
• Logical Operators
• Assignment Operators
• Membership Operators
• Identity Operators
• Bitwise Operators

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform mathematical calculations.

Operator	Description	Example
+	Addition	5 + 3 = 8
-	Subtraction	10 - 4 = 6
*	Multiplication	4 * 2 = 8
/	Division	10 / 2 = 5.0
%	Modulus (remainder)	10 % 3 = 1
**	Exponentiation	2 ** 3 = 8
//	Floor division	7 // 2 = 3

a = 10
b = 3

print(a + b)
print(a % b)
print(a ** b)

Comparison Operator

These operators compare two values and return a boolean result (True or False).

Operator	Meaning
==	Equal to
!=	Not equal to
>	Greater than
<	Less than
>=	Greater than or equal to
<=	Less than or equal to

x = 10
y = 5

print(x > y)    # True
print(x == y)   # False

Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to combine conditional statements.

Operator	Meaning
and	True if both conditions are true
or	True if at least one condition is true
not	Reverses the condition

age = 25
has_id = True

print(age > 18 and has_id)

Assignment Operators

Assignment operators assign values to variables.

Operator	Example	Equivalent To
=	x = 5	Assign value
+=	x += 2	x = x + 2
-=	x -= 2	x = x - 2
*=	x *= 2	x = x * 2
/=	x /= 2	x = x / 2

x = 10
x += 5
print(x)

Membership Operators

Membership operators test whether a value exists inside a sequence.

Operator	Description
in	Returns True if value is found
not in	Returns True if value is not found

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "mango"]

print("apple" in fruits)
print("grape" not in fruits)

Identity Operators

Identity operators check if two variables refer to the same object in memory.

Operator	Meaning
is	True if both variables refer to same object
is not	True if they do not

a = [1, 2, 3]
b = a
c = [1, 2, 3]

print(a is b)   # True
print(a is c)   # False

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators work on binary (bit-level) representations of numbers. Instead of working with whole values, they operate on individual bits (0s and 1s).

Operator	Name	Description
&	AND	Sets bit to 1 if both bits are 1
|	OR	Sets bit to 1 if either of the bits are 1
^	XOR	Sets bit to 1 if bits are different
~	NOT	Inverts all bits
<<	Left Shift	Shifts bits to the left
>>	Right Shift	Shifts bits to the right

Example

a = 5   # 0101
b = 3   # 0011

print(a & b)  # Output: 1

Explanation

0101  AND (Both Bits must be 1)
0011
----
0001  → 1

Operator Precedence

Operator precedence is used when multiple operators are used in a single expression. The official Python Doc has a Precedence table which goes from highest precedence (most binding) to lowest precedence (least binding). Operators in same cell have the same precedence

Worthwhile Books to learn Python from

• Python Crash Course, 3rd Edition
• Ultimate Python Programming