Operators

An operator is a symbol, keyword, or function that requests an operation to be performed on one or more operands. In mathematics and computer science, operators act on operands to yield a result. Operators are classified by arity: unary operators take a single operand (for example, negation -a, logical not not a); binary operators take two operands (for example, addition a + b, multiplication a * b); ternary operators take three (for example, in some languages the conditional operator a ? b : c).

In mathematics, common operators include arithmetic (+, −, ×, ÷, exponentiation), relational (=, ≠, <, ≤, >, ≥), logical (and, or, not), and set operators (union ∪, intersection ∩). These symbols or words denote explicit operations applied to chosen quantities or objects.

In programming languages, operators are tokens that perform actions on operands or values. They include arithmetic, assignment (=, +=), comparison (==, !=), logical (&&, ||, !), bitwise (&, |, ^, ~), shift (<<, >>), and others such as member access ., indexing [], and function call (). Operator precedence and associativity determine the order of evaluation. Many languages support operator overloading, allowing user-defined types to define how operators behave with their values.

Other uses: in industry and workplaces, an operator refers to a person who operates equipment or machinery, such as a crane operator, forklift operator, or control room operator. The term highlights the human role in controlling devices to perform tasks.