Java - Operator Precedence
| Precedence | Type | Operator | Operation | Associates |
| 0 | ( ) | parenthesis | L to R | |
| 1 | [], ., ,, ++, -- | array subscript, member selection, comma delimiter, post increment, post decrement | L to R | |
| 2 | unary | ++, --, +, -, ! | prefix increment, prefix decrement, positive, negative, NOT | R to L |
| 3 | unary | (type), new | type cast, object instantiation | R to L |
| 4 | binary multiplicative | *, /, % | multiplication, division, modulo | L to R |
| 5 | binary arithmetic | +, -, + | addition, subtraction, string concatenation | L to R |
| 6 | binary shift | <<, >>, >>> | left shift, right shift, right shift (with 0) | |
| 7 |
binary relational (evaluates to boolean) |
>=, <=, >, <, instanceof | greaterThanOrEqual, lessThanOrEqual, greaterThan, lessThan, type comparision | L to R |
| 8 |
binary equality
(evaluates to boolean) |
==, != | equalTo, notEqualTo | L to R |
| 9 | binary/boolean conjunction | & | bitwise AND, boolean AND | L to R |
| 10 | binary/boolean XOR | ^ | bitwise XOR, boolean XOR | L to R |
| 11 | binary/boolean disjunction | | | bitwise OR, boolean OR | L to R |
| 12 | logical conjunction | && | logical AND (short circuits) | L to R |
| 13 | logical disjunction | | | | logical OR (short circuits) | L to R |
| 14 |
tertiary conditional (evaluates to boolean) |
?: | (boolean statement)?(expression if true):(expression if false) | R to L |
| 15 | binary assignment | =, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=, <<=, >>=, >>>=, &=, ^=, |= | assignment, plusAssgn, minusAssgn, timesAssgn, dividesAssgn, moduloAssgn, leftShiftAssgn, rightShiftAssgn, rightShiftAssgnW0, ANDAssgn, XORAssgn, ORAssgn | R to L |
Parenthesis have the highest precedence and assignment has the lowest
precedence, but keep in mind that the
left-hand operand of a binary operator always appears to be fully evaluated
before any part of the right-hand operand is evaluated. As an example the following complex expression evaluates to true
(result is a boolean, the initial value of i is 7):
|
result = 2 * i-- % 3 <= (2 * i + -1) % 3; |
//the last operation performed is assignment of the binary relational |
|
2*7 %3 <= (2*6 + -1) % 3 |
//evaluating the binary relational's left-hand operand first, i is initially 7 |
|
14%3 <= 11 % 3 |
|
|
2 <= 2 |
|
|
true |
Highest order of Precedence:
|
Operator |
Java Expression |
Meaning |
| parentheses | x * (a + c) | add a to c, multiply the result by x |
| array subscript | String[] args | declaring an array of String objects named args |
| member selection | Math.pow(Math.PI, 2) | pi squared |
| comma delimiter | rectangle(x, y, width, height) | pass multiple variables into method |
Java source file demonstrating some of the lower orders of precedence: Precedence.java
