Operator Precedence

Precedence is the order in which the compiler groups operands with operators. The C compiler evaluates certain operators and their operands before others. If operands are not grouped using parentheses, the compiler groups them according to its own rules.

Table 5-1 “C Operator Precedence ” shows the rules of operator precedence in the C language. The table lists the highest precedence operators first. Most operators group from the left to the right but some group from the right to the left. The grouping indicates how an expression containing several operators of the same precedence will be evaluated. Left to right grouping means the expression

  a/b * c/d

behaves as if it had been written:

  (((a/b)*c)/d)

Likewise, an operator that groups from the right to the left causes the expression

  a = b = c

to behave as if it had been written:

  a = (b = c)

¹ Note that the +, -, *, and & operators listed in this row are unary operators.