Operators

Introduction

When writing programs, we often need to perform operations like:

• Adding numbers

• Comparing values

• Checking conditions

• Updating variables

JavaScript provides operators to perform these tasks.

Operators allow us to manipulate data and build logic inside programs.

In this article we will learn:

• What operators are

• Arithmetic operators

• Comparison operators

• Logical operators

• Assignment operators

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What Are Operators?

An operator is a symbol used to perform an operation on values.

Example:

let result = 5 + 3;

Here:

• 5 and 3 are operands

• + is the operator

The operator tells JavaScript what action to perform.

Output:

8

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Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used for mathematical calculations.

Operator	Meaning	Example
+	Addition	5 + 3
-	Subtraction	8 - 2
*	Multiplication	4 * 2
/	Division	10 / 2
%	Modulus (remainder)	10 % 3
**	Exponentiation	2**8

Example:

let a = 10;
let b = 3;

console.log(a + b);
console.log(a - b);
console.log(a * b);
console.log(a / b);
console.log(a % b);
console.log(a ** b);

Output:

13
7
30
3.3333
1
1000

The modulus operator % returns the remainder after division.

Example:

10 % 3 = 1

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Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are used to compare two values.

They return either:

• true

• false

Operator	Meaning
==	Equal (loose comparison – compares values after type conversion)
===	Strict equal (compares value and type)
!=	Not equal (loose comparison)
!==	Strict not equal (value or type is different)
>	Greater than
<	Less than
>=	Greater than or equal to
<=	Less than or equal to

Example:

let x = 10;
let y = 5;

console.log(x > y);
console.log(x < y);
console.log(x == y);

Output:

true
false
false

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Difference Between == and ===

This is an important concept in JavaScript.

== (Loose Equality)

It compares values after type conversion.

Example:

console.log(5 == "5");

Output:

true

JavaScript converts "5" into a number before comparing.

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=== (Strict Equality)

It compares both value and type.

Example:

console.log(5 === "5");

Output:

false

Because:

• 5 → number

• "5" → string

Different types → result is false.

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Logical Operators

Logical operators are used to combine conditions.

Operator	Meaning
&&	AND
||	OR
!	NOT

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Logical AND (&&)

Returns true only if both conditions are true.

Example:

let age = 20;
let hasID = true;

console.log(age > 18 && hasID);

Output:

true

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Logical OR (||)

Returns true if at least one condition is true.

Example:

let isWeekend = false;
let isHoliday = true;

console.log(isWeekend || isHoliday);

Output:

true

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Logical NOT (!)

Reverses a boolean value.

Example:

let isLoggedIn = false;

console.log(!isLoggedIn);

Output:

true

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Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.

Operator	Meaning
=	Assign value
+=	Add and assign
-=	Subtract and assign
*=	Multiply and assign
/=	Divide and assign
%=	Modulus and assign
**=	Exponentiation and assign

Example:

let score = 10;

score += 5;

console.log(score);

Output:

15

Explanation:

score += 5

means

score = score + 5

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Assignment Practice

Try these exercises.

1) Arithmetic Operations

let a = 10;
let b = 4;

console.log(a + b);
console.log(a - b);
console.log(a * b);
console.log(a / b);

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2) Compare Values

console.log(5 == "5");
console.log(5 === "5");

Observe the difference.

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3) Logical Condition

let age = 18;
let hasID = true;

if (age >= 18 && hasID) {
  console.log("Entry allowed");
}

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Conclusion

Operators are essential for writing JavaScript programs.

In this article we learned:

• What operators are

• Arithmetic operators for calculations

• Comparison operators for value checking

• Logical operators for conditions

• Assignment operators for updating variables

These operators are used in almost every JavaScript program.

Understanding them is an important step toward writing real-world applications.