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C++ built-in operators, precedence, and associativity

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The C++ language includes all C operators and adds several new operators. Operators specify an evaluation to be performed on one or more operands.

Precedence and associativity

Operator precedence specifies the order of operations in expressions that contain more than one operator. Operator associativity specifies whether, in an expression that contains multiple operators with the same precedence, an operand is grouped with the one on its left or the one on its right.

Alternative spellings

C++ specifies alternative spellings for some operators. In C, the alternative spellings are provided as macros in the <iso646.h> header. In C++, these alternatives are keywords, and use of <iso646.h> or the C++ equivalent <ciso646> is deprecated. In Microsoft C++, the /permissive- or /Za compiler option is required to enable the alternative spellings.

C++ operator precedence and associativity table

The following table shows the precedence and associativity of C++ operators (from highest to lowest precedence). Operators with the same precedence number have equal precedence unless another relationship is explicitly forced by parentheses.

Operator Description Operator Alternative
Group 1 precedence, no associativity
Scope resolution ::
Group 2 precedence, left to right associativity
Member selection (object or pointer) . or ->
Array subscript []
Function call ()
Postfix increment ++
Postfix decrement --
Type name typeid
Constant type conversion const_cast
Dynamic type conversion dynamic_cast
Reinterpreted type conversion reinterpret_cast
Static type conversion static_cast
Group 3 precedence, right to left associativity
Size of object or type sizeof
Prefix increment ++
Prefix decrement --
One's complement ~ compl
Logical not ! not
Unary negation -
Unary plus +
Address-of &
Indirection *
Create object new
Destroy object delete
Cast ()
Group 4 precedence, left to right associativity
Pointer-to-member (objects or pointers) .* or ->*
Group 5 precedence, left to right associativity
Multiplication *
Division /
Modulus %
Group 6 precedence, left to right associativity
Addition +
Subtraction -
Group 7 precedence, left to right associativity
Left shift <<
Right shift >>
Group 8 precedence, left to right associativity
Less than <
Greater than >
Less than or equal to <=
Greater than or equal to >=
Group 9 precedence, left to right associativity
Equality ==
Inequality != not_eq
Group 10 precedence left to right associativity
Bitwise AND & bitand
Group 11 precedence, left to right associativity
Bitwise exclusive OR ^ xor
Group 12 precedence, left to right associativity
Bitwise inclusive OR | bitor
Group 13 precedence, left to right associativity
Logical AND && and
Group 14 precedence, left to right associativity
Logical OR || or
Group 15 precedence, right to left associativity
Conditional ? :
Assignment =
Multiplication assignment *=
Division assignment /=
Modulus assignment %=
Addition assignment +=
Subtraction assignment -=
Left-shift assignment <<=
Right-shift assignment >>=
Bitwise AND assignment &= and_eq
Bitwise inclusive OR assignment |= or_eq
Bitwise exclusive OR assignment ^= xor_eq
throw expression throw
Group 16 precedence, left to right associativity
Comma ,

See also

Operator overloading