Operator
An operator is a symbol or keyword in source code that represents a built-in function.
Related concepts: Function
Closest Wikipedia entry: Operator (computer programming) — In computer programming, operators are constructs defined within programming languages which behave generally like functions, but which differ syntactically or semantically. Common simple examples include arithmetic (e.g. addition with ), comparison (e.g. "greater than" with >), and logical operations (e.g. AND, also written && in some languages). More involved examples include assignment (usually = or :=), field access in a record or object (usually .), and the scope resolution operator (often :: or .).
Misconceptions about Operator26 documented Misconceptions
Check YourselfArithmeticPlusPrecedes — Java
Addition has higher precedence than string concatenationArrayAccessWithParentheses — Java
Parenthesis are used to access an element in an arrayAssignCompares — Java
= compares two valuesAssignCompares — Python
= compares two valuesAssignmentNotExpression — Java
An assignment a=b is not an expressionCannotChainAttributeToObjectInstantiation — Python
Method calls, and attribute accesses in general, cannot be chained to a constructor invocation.CannotChainMemberAccesses — Java
Member accesses cannot be chained togetherCannotChainMemberToConstructor — Java
Method calls or field accesses cannot be chained to a constructor invocationComparisonWithBoolLiteral — Python
To test whether an expression is True or False, one must compare it to True or to FalseComparisonWithBooleanLiteral — Java
To test whether an expression is true or false, one must compare it to true or to falseConditionalOperatorNotExpression — JavaScript
The conditional operator is not an expressionEqualityOperatorComparesObjectsValues — Java
o==p compares the objects referred to by variables o and pEqualityOperatorComparesObjectsValues — JavaScript
The equality operator compares two objects' valuesEqualityOperatorComparesOnlyTypes — JavaScript
The equality operator '==' compares only the types of the operandsMapToBooleanWithConditionalOperator — Java
To map a boolean expression to a boolean, a conditional operator is necessaryMapToBooleanWithTernaryOperator — Python
To map a boolean expression to a bool, a ternary conditional operator is necessaryNoAtomicExpression — Java
Expressions must consist of more than one pieceNoAtomicExpression — JavaScript
Expressions must consist of more than one pieceNoAtomicExpression — Python
Expressions must consist of more than one pieceNoShortCircuit — Java
&& and || always evaluate both operandsNoShortCircuit — Python
and/or always evaluate both operandsNoSingleLogicAnd — Java
& is only a bitwise ANDPlusConcatenatesNumbers — Python
The plus operator can concatenate strings and numbersPreIncrementBeforeLoop — Java
Pre-increment in update part of for loop means increment before loop bodyRightToLeftChaining — Java
Chained accesses are invoked from right to leftStringPlusStringifiesExpression — Java
String concatenation stringifies non-String operand expressions