In this tutorial, you will learn how to manipulate or perform the operations on variables and values using the operators in JavaScript.
Operators are known to be symbols or keywords that program the JavaScript engine to perform some sort of action. For instance, the addition (+) symbol is an operator that instructs the JavaScript engine to add two variables or values together, while the equal to (=), greater than (>), or less than (<) symbols are the operators that instruct JavaScript engine to make a comparison between two variables or values, and so on.
The following sections describe the different operators used in JavaScript.
Common arithmetical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication of values, and variables are performed by the JavaScript arithmetic operators. Here is a complete list of JavaScript's arithmetic operators:
Operator | Description | Example | Result |
+ | Addition | x + y | Sum of x and y |
- | Subtraction | x - y | Difference of x and y. |
* | Multiplication | x * y | Product of x and y. |
/ | Division | x / y | Quotient of x and y |
% | Modulus | x % y | Remainder of x divided by y |
The following example will show you these arithmetic operators in action:
var x = 10;
var y = 4;
alert(x + y); // 0utputs: 14
alert(x - y); // 0utputs: 6
alert(x * y); // 0utputs: 40
alert(x / y); // 0utputs: 2.5
alert(x % y); // 0utputs: 2
The assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.
Operator | Description | Example | Is The Same As |
= | Assign | x = y | x = y |
+= | Add and assign | x += y | x = x + y |
-= | Subtract and assign | x -= y | x = x - y |
*= | Multiply and assign | x *= y | x = x * y |
/= | Divide and assign quotient | x /= y | x = x / y |
%= | Divide and assign modulus | x %= y | x = x % y |
The following example will show you these assignment operators in action:
Example:
var x; // Declaring Variable
x = 10;
alert(x); // Outputs: 10
x = 20;
x += 30;
alert(x); // Outputs: 50
x = 50;
x -= 20;
alert(x); // Outputs: 30
x = 5;
x *= 25;
alert(x); // Outputs: 125
x = 50;
x /= 10;
alert(x); // Outputs: 5
x = 100;
x %= 15;
alert(x); // Outputs: 10
There are two operators which can also be used for strings.
Operator | Description | Example | Result |
+ | Concatenation | str1 + str2 | Concatenation of str1 and str2 |
+= | Concatenation assignment | str1 += str2 | Appends the str2 to the str1 |
The following example will show you these string operators in action:
var str1 = "Hello";
var str2 = " World!";
alert(str1 + str2); // Outputs: Hello World!
str1 += str2;
alert(str1); // Outputs: Hello World!
The increment or decrement operators are used to either increment or decrement a variable's value.
Operator | Name | Effect |
++x | Pre-increment | Increments x by one, then returns x |
x++ | Post-increment | Returns x, then increments x by one |
--x | Pre-decrement | Decrements x by one, then returns x |
x-- | Post-decrement | Returns x, then decrements x by one |
The following example will demonstrate how increment and decrement operators work:
var x; // Declaring Variable
x = 10;
alert(++x); // Outputs: 11
alert(x); // Outputs: 11
x = 10;
alert(x++); // Outputs: 10
alert(x); // Outputs: 11
x = 10;
alert(--x); // Outputs: 9
alert(x); // Outputs: 9
x = 10;
alert(x--); // Outputs: 10
alert(x); // Outputs: 9
The logical operators are typically used to combine conditional statements.
Operator | Name | Example | Result |
&& | And | x && y | True if both x and y are true |
|| | Or | x || y | True if either x or y is true |
! | Not | !x | True if x is not true |
The logical operators are typically used to combine conditional statements.
The following example will show you how these logical operators actually work:
Example:
var year = 2018;
// Leap years are divisible by 400 or by 4 but not 100
if((year % 400 == 0) || ((year % 100 != 0) && (year % 4 == 0))){
alert(year + " is a leap year.");
} else{
alert(year + " is not a leap year.");
}
You will learn about conditional statements in JavaScript if/else chapter.
The comparison operators are used to compare two values in a Boolean style.
Operator | Name | Example | Result |
== | Equal | x == y | True if x is equal to y |
=== | Identical | x === y | True if x is equal to y, and they are of the same type |
!= | Not equal | x != y | True if x is not equal to y |
!== | Not identical | x !== y | True if x is not equal to y, or they are not of the same type |
< | Less than | x < y | True if x is less than y |
> | Greater than | x > y | True if x is greater than y |
>= | Greater than or equal to | x >= y | True if x is greater than or equal to y |
<= | Less than or equal to | x <= y | True if x is less than or equal to y |
The following example will show you these comparison operators in action:
Example:
var x = 25;
var y = 35;
var z = "25";
alert(x == z); // Outputs: true
alert(x === z); // Outputs: false
alert(x != y); // Outputs: true
alert(x !== z); // Outputs: true
alert(x < y); // Outputs: true
alert(x > y); // Outputs: false
alert(x <= y); // Outputs: true
alert(x >= y); // Outputs: false