When an expression contains multiple operators, the precedence of the operators controls the order in which the individual operators are evaluated. [Note: For example, the expression x + y * z is evaluated as x + (y * z) because the * operator has higher precedence than the binary + operator. end note] The precedence of an operator is established by the definition of its associated grammar production. [Note: For example, an additive-expression consists of a sequence of multiplicative-expressions separated by + or -operators, thus giving the + and -operators lower precedence than the *, /, and % operators. end note]
The following table summarizes all operators in order of precedence from highest to lowest: Section Category Operators
14.5 Primary x.y f(x) a[x] x++ x--new
typeof checked unchecked
14.6 Unary + -! ~ ++x --x (T)x
14.7 Multiplicative * / %
14.7 Additive +
-14.8 Shift << >>
14.9 Relational and
type-testing
< > <= >= is as
14.9 Equality == !=
14.10 Logical AND &
14.10 Logical XOR ^
14.10 Logical OR |
14.11 Conditional AND &&
14.11 Conditional OR ||
14.12 Conditional ?:
14.13 Assignment = *= /= %= += -= <<= >>= &= ^= |=
When an operand occurs between two operators with the same precedence, the associativity of the operators controls the order in which the operations are performed: Except for the assignment operators, all binary operators are left-associative, meaning that operations are performed from left to right. [Example: For example, x + y + z is evaluated as (x + y) + z. end example] The assignment operators and the conditional operator (?:) are right-associative, meaning that operations are performed from right to left. [Example: For example, x = y = z is evaluated as x = (y = z). end example]
Precedence and associativity can be controlled using parentheses. [Example: For example, x + y * z first multiplies y by z and then adds the result to x, but (x + y) * z first adds x and y and then multiplies the result by z. end example]