1. Introduction

One of the primary tasks of computer programs is to carry out calculations and comparisons. These operations are some of the most basic actions performed by a CPU. They are so central to how programming works that they are given a special one or two character symbol, called an 'operator'.

There are several types of operator:

• Arithmetic
• Relational
• Boolean

Over the next few pages, we will describe in detail the most common versions of these operators across different programming languages, as well as how they are used in computer programs.