4.1 Operands and Expressions

An “operand” is an entity on which an operator acts. An “expression” is a sequence of operators and operands that performs any combination of these actions:

Computes a value

Designates an object or function

Generates side effects

Operands in C include constants, identifiers, strings, function calls, subscript expressions, member-selection expressions, and complex expressions formed by combining operands with operators or by enclosing operands in parentheses. These operands, often called “primary expressions,” are discussed in the next section.