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Operators

An operator is something that takes one or more values (or expressions) and yields another value (so that the construction itself becomes an expression)
Operators can be grouped according to the number of values they take. Unary operators take only one value, for example ! (the logical not operator). Binary operators take two values, such as the familiar arithmetical operators + (plus) and - (minus). The majority of Zaidlang's operators fall into this category.
Precedence and Associativity
The precedence of an operator specifies how "tightly" it binds two expressions together. For example, in the expression 1 + 5 * 3, the answer is 16 and not 18 because the multiplication (*) operator has a higher precedence than the addition (+) operator. Parentheses may be used to force precedence, if necessary. For example, (1 + 5) * 3 evaluates to 18.
When operators have equal precedence their associativity decides how the operators are grouped. For example, = is left-associative, so 1 - 2 - 3 is grouped as (1 - 2) - 3 and evaluates to -4. = on the other hand is right-associative, so a = b = c is grouped as a = (b = c).
Use of parentheses, even when not strictly necessary, can often increase readability of the code by making grouping explicit rather than relying on the implicit operator precedence and associativity.
The following table summarizes the operator precedence in Zaidlang, from highest to lowest. Operators in the same box have the same precedence.
Precedence
Operator
Description
Associates
1
() .
Grouping, Method call
Left
2
-
Negate
Right
3
* / %
Multiply, Divide, Modulo
Left
4
+ -
Add, Subtract
Left
5
< <= > >=
Comparison
Left
6
== !=
Equals, Not equal
Left
7
and
Logical and
Left
8
or
Logical or
Left
9
=
Assignment
Right
Arithmetic Operators
Remember basic arithmetic from school? These work just like those.
Example
Name
Result
-a
Negation
Opposite of a.
a + b
Addition
Sum of a and b.
a - b
Subtraction
Difference of a and b.
a * b
Multiplication
Product of a and b.
a / b
Division
Quotient of a and b.
a % b
Modulo
Remainder of a divided by b.
The result of the modulo operator (%) has the same sign as the dividend - that is, the result of a % b will have the same sign as a. For example:
printftw(5 % 3) // >> 2
printftw(5 % -3) // >> 2
printftw(-5 % 3) // >> -2
printftw(-5 % -3) // >> -2
Assignment Operator
The assignment operator is =. This declares and assigns the value of the expression on the right.
message = "Hello, world!"
​
printftw(message) // >> Hello, world!
Comparison Operators
Comparison operators, as their name implies, allow you to compare two values.
Example
Name
Result
a == b
Equal
true if a is equal to b.
a != b
Not equal
true if a is not equal to b.
a < b
Less than
true if a is less than b.
a > b
Greater than
true if a is greater than b.
a <= b
Less than or equal to
true if a is less than or equal to b.
a >= b
Greater than or equal to
true if a is greater than or equal to b.

Precedence	Operator	Description	Associates
1	`()` `.`	Grouping, Method call	Left
2	`-`	Negate	Right
3	`*` `/` `%`	Multiply, Divide, Modulo	Left
4	`+` `-`	Add, Subtract	Left
5	`<` `<=` `>` `>=`	Comparison	Left
6	`==` `!=`	Equals, Not equal	Left
7	`and`	Logical and	Left
8	`or`	Logical or	Left
9	`=`	Assignment	Right

Example	Name	Result
`-a`	Negation	Opposite of `a`.
`a + b`	Addition	Sum of `a` and `b`.
`a - b`	Subtraction	Difference of `a` and `b`.
`a * b`	Multiplication	Product of `a` and `b`.
`a / b`	Division	Quotient of `a` and `b`.
`a % b`	Modulo	Remainder of `a` divided by `b`.

Example	Name	Result
`a == b`	Equal	`true` if `a` is equal to `b`.
`a != b`	Not equal	`true` if `a` is not equal to `b`.
`a < b`	Less than	`true` if `a` is less than `b`.
`a > b`	Greater than	`true` if `a` is greater than `b`.
`a <= b`	Less than or equal to	`true` if `a` is less than or equal to `b`.
`a >= b`	Greater than or equal to	`true` if `a` is greater than or equal to `b`.

Last modified 6mo ago