Operator Precedence

When multiple operators are combined, operator precedence becomes an issue. Operator precedence determines which computations or comparisons are performed first. Often, the order can make a significant difference in the resulting value.

Operators have the following precedence levels:

• Primary grouping: ( )
• Bitwise: ~
• Multiplicative: * / %
• Additive: -
• Bitwise: ^
• Bitwise: &
• Bitwise: |
• NOT
• AND
• OR

When all operators in an expression are of the same level, the precedence order is left to right. You can change the order of execution with parentheses (primary grouping); the most deeply nested expression is evaluated first.