Mastering Python Operators: A Comprehensive Guide

Mastering Python Operators

In this tutorial, you'll master all Python operator categories—syntax, behavior, and practical examples—to write cleaner, more efficient code.

Video: Operators in Python

What are operators in Python?

Operators are special symbols that perform arithmetic or logical computations. The values they act upon are called operands.

For example:

>>>>> 2+3
5

Here, + is the operator performing addition, 2 and 3 are operands, and 5 is the result.

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Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators execute mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and more.

Operator	Meaning	Example
+	Add two operands or unary plus	x + y + 2
-	Subtract right operand from left or unary minus	x - y - 2
*	Multiply two operands	x * y
/	Divide left operand by right (always returns float)	x / y
%	Modulus – remainder of division	x % y (remainder of x/y)
//	Floor division – whole number result rounded down	x // y
**	Exponentiation – left raised to right power	x ** y (x to the power y)

Example 1: Arithmetic Operators in Python

x = 15
y = 4

print('x + y =', x + y)
print('x - y =', x - y)
print('x * y =', x * y)
print('x / y =', x / y)
print('x // y =', x // y)
print('x ** y =', x ** y)

Output

x + y = 19
x - y = 11
x * y = 60
x / y = 3.75
x // y = 3
x ** y = 50625

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Comparison Operators

Comparison operators evaluate relationships between values, returning True or False.

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

Example 2: Comparison Operators in Python

x = 10
y = 12

print('x > y is', x > y)
print('x < y is', x < y)
print('x == y is', x == y)
print('x != y is', x != y)
print('x >= y is', x >= y)
print('x <= y is', x <= y)

Output

x > y is False
x < y is True
x == y is False
x != y is True
x >= y is False
x <= y is True

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Logical Operators

Logical operators—and, or, not—combine Boolean expressions.

Operator	Meaning	Example
and	True if both operands are true	x and y
or	True if at least one operand is true	x or y
not	Negates the operand	not x

Example 3: Logical Operators in Python

x = True
y = False

print('x and y is', x and y)
print('x or y is', x or y)
print('not x is', not x)

Output

x and y is False
x or y is True
not x is False

Below is a truth table illustrating these operators.

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Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators manipulate individual bits of integer operands.

For example, 2 is 10 in binary, and 7 is 111.

Let x = 10 (00001010 binary) and y = 4 (00000100 binary).

Operator	Meaning	Example
&	Bitwise AND	x & y = 0 (00000000)
|	Bitwise OR	x | y = 14 (00001110)
~	Bitwise NOT	~x = -11 (11110101)
^	Bitwise XOR	x ^ y = 14 (00001110)
>>	Right shift	x >> 2 = 2 (00000010)
<<	Left shift	x << 2 = 40 (00101000)

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Assignment Operators

Assignment operators assign values to variables, including compound forms that combine an operation with assignment.

Operator	Example	Equivalent to
=	x = 5	x = 5
+=	x += 5	x = x + 5
-=	x -= 5	x = x - 5
*=	x *= 5	x = x * 5
/=	x /= 5	x = x / 5
%=	x %= 5	x = x % 5
//=	x //= 5	x = x // 5
**=	x **= 5	x = x ** 5
&=	x &= 5	x = x & 5
|=	x |= 5	x = x | 5
^=	x ^= 5	x = x ^ 5
>>=	x >>= 5	x = x >> 5
<<=	x <<= 5	x = x << 5

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Special Operators

Python also includes identity and membership operators for advanced comparisons.

Identity Operators

is and is not check whether two references point to the same object.

Operator	Meaning	Example
is	True if operands refer to the same object	x is True
is not	True if operands refer to different objects	x is not True

Example 4: Identity Operators in Python

x1 = 5
y1 = 5
x2 = 'Hello'
y2 = 'Hello'
x3 = [1,2,3]
y3 = [1,2,3]

print(x1 is not y1)
print(x2 is y2)
print(x3 is y3)

Output

False
True
False

Integers and short strings are interned, so identical literals often share the same object. Lists are distinct objects even when they contain the same items.

Membership Operators

in and not in test for the presence of a value within a sequence, set, or dictionary key set.

Operator	Meaning	Example
in	True if value is found in the sequence	5 in x
not in	True if value is absent from the sequence	5 not in x

Example 5: Membership Operators in Python

x = 'Hello world'
y = {1:'a',2:'b'}

print('H' in x)
print('hello' not in x)
print(1 in y)
print('a' in y)

Output

True
True
True
False

Notice that string comparisons are case‑sensitive and dictionary checks only consider keys.