C# Operators
C# provides a large set of operators, which are symbols that specify which operations to perform in an expression. C# predefines the usual arithmetic and logical operators, as well as a variety of others as shown in the following table. Operations on integral types such as ==, !=, <, >, <=, >=, binary +, binary -, ^, &, |, ~, ++, --, and sizeof() are generally allowed on enumerations. In addition, many operators can be overloaded by the user, thus changing their meaning when applied to a user-defined type.
| Operator category | Operators |
|---|---|
Arithmetic |
|
Logical (Boolean and bitwise) |
|
String concatenation |
|
Increment, decrement |
|
Shift |
|
Relational |
|
Assignment |
|
Member access |
|
Indexing |
|
Cast |
|
Conditional |
|
Delegate concatenation and removal |
|
Object creation |
|
Type information |
|
Overflow exception control |
|
Indirection and Address |
Arithmetic Overflow
The arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /) can produce results that are outside the range of possible values for the numeric type involved. You should refer to the section on a particular operator for details, but in general:
Integer arithmetic overflow either throws an OverflowException or discards the most significant bits of the result. Integer division by zero always throws a DivideByZeroException.
Floating-point arithmetic overflow or division by zero never throws an exception, because floating-point types are based on IEEE 754 and so have provisions for representing infinity and NaN (Not a Number).
Decimal arithmetic overflow always throws an OverflowException. Decimal division by zero always throws a DivideByZeroException.
When integer overflow occurs, what happens depends on the execution context, which can be checked or unchecked. In a checked context, an OverflowException is thrown. In an unchecked context, the most significant bits of the result are discarded and execution continues. Thus, C# gives you the choice of handling or ignoring overflow.
In addition to the arithmetic operators, integral-type to integral-type casts can cause overflow, for example, casting a long to an int, and are subject to checked or unchecked execution. However, bitwise operators and shift operators never cause overflow.
See Also
Tasks
Reference
Overloadable Operators (C# Programming Guide)
C# Keywords