C++ Operator Precedence

 

C++

Language

Standard library headers

Concepts

Utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Algorithms library

Iterators library

Numerics library

Input/output library

Localizations library

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Atomic operations library (C++11)

Thread support library (C++11)

Technical Specifications

 

C++ language

 

Expressions

General

value categories (lvalue, rvalue, xvalue)

order of evaluation (sequence points)

constant expressions

unevaluated expressions

primary expressions

lambda-expression(C++11)

Literals

integer literals

floating-point literals

boolean literals

character literals including escape sequences

string literals

null pointer literal(C++11)

user-defined literal(C++11)

Operators

Assignment operators: a=b, a+=b, a-=b, a*=b, a/=b, a%=b, a&=b, a|=b, a^=b, a<<=b, a>>=

Increment and decrement: ++a, --a, a++, a--

Arithmetic operators: +a, -a, a+b, a-b, a*b, a/b, a%b, ~a, a&b, a|b, a^b, a<<b, a>>b

Logical operators: a||b, a&&b, !a

Comparison operators: a==b, a!=b, a<b, a>b, a<=b, a>=b

Member access operators: a[b], *a, &a, a->b, a.b, a->*b, a.*b

Other operators: a(...), a,b, (T)a, a?b:c

Alternative representations of operators

Precedence and associativity

Fold expression(C++17)

new-expression

delete-expression

throw-expression

alignof

sizeof

sizeof...(C++11)

typeid

noexcept(C++11)

Operator overloading

Conversions

Implicit conversions

const_cast

static_cast

reinterpret_cast

dynamic_cast

Explicit conversions (T)a, T(a)

User-defined conversion

 

The following table lists the precedence and associativity of C++ operators. Operators are listed top to bottom, in descending precedence.

Precedence	Operator	Description	Associativity
1	::	Scope resolution	Left-to-right
2	++   --	Suffix/postfix increment and decrement
	type() type{}	Function-style type cast
	()	Function call
	[]	Array subscripting
	.	Element selection by reference
	->	Element selection through pointer
3	++   --	Prefix increment and decrement	Right-to-left
	+   -	Unary plus and minus
	!   ~	Logical NOT and bitwise NOT
	(type)	C-style type cast
	*	Indirection (dereference)
	&	Address-of
	sizeof	Size-of
	new, new[]	Dynamic memory allocation
	delete, delete[]	Dynamic memory deallocation
4	.*   ->*	Pointer to member	Left-to-right
5	*   /   %	Multiplication, division, and remainder
6	+   -	Addition and subtraction
7	<<   >>	Bitwise left shift and right shift
8	<   <=	For relational operators < and ≤ respectively
	>   >=	For relational operators > and ≥ respectively
9	==   !=	For relational = and ≠ respectively
10	&	Bitwise AND
11	^	Bitwise XOR (exclusive or)
12	|	Bitwise OR (inclusive or)
13	&&	Logical AND
14	||	Logical OR
15	?:	Ternary conditional	Right-to-left
	throw	throw operator
	=	Direct assignment (provided by default for C++ classes)
	+=   -=	Assignment by sum and difference
	*=   /=   %=	Assignment by product, quotient, and remainder
	<<=   >>=	Assignment by bitwise left shift and right shift
	&=   ^=   |=	Assignment by bitwise AND, XOR, and OR
16	,	Comma	Left-to-right

When parsing an expression, an operator which is listed on some row will be bound tighter (as if by parentheses) to its arguments than any operator that is listed on a row further below it. For example, the expressions std::cout<<a&b and *p++ are parsed as (std::cout<<a)&b and *(p++), and not as std::cout<<(a&b) or (*p)++.

Operators that have the same precedence are bound to their arguments in the direction of their associativity. For example, the expression a=b=c is parsed as a=(b=c), and not as (a=b)=c because of right-to-left associativity of assignment, but a+b-c is parsed (a+b)-c and not a+(b-c) because of left-to-right associativity of addition.

Associativity specification is redundant for unary operators and is only shown for completeness: unary prefix operators always associate right-to-left (delete ++*p is delete(++(*p))) and unary postfix operators always associate left-to-right.

Operator precedence is unaffected by operator overloading.

Notes

Precedence and associativity are compile-time concepts and are independent from order of evaluation, which is a runtime concept.

The standard itself doesn't specify precedence levels. They are derived from the grammar.

const_cast, static_cast, dynamic_cast, reinterpret_cast, typeid, sizeof..., noexcept and alignof are not included since they are never ambiguous.

Some of the operators have alternate spellings (e.g., and for &&, or for ||, not for !, etc.).

Relative precedence of the conditional and assignment operators differs between C and C++: in C, assignment is not allowed on the right hand side of a conditional operator, so e = a < d ? a++ : a = d cannot be parsed. Many C compilers use a modified grammar where ?: has higher precedence than =, which parses that as e = ( ((a < d) ? (a++) : a) = d ) (which then fails to compile because ?: is never lvalue in C and = requires lvalue on the left). In C++, ?: and = have equal precedence and group right-to-left, so that e = a < d ? a++ : a = d parses as e = ((a < d) ? (a++) : (a = d)).

See also

Common operators
assignment	increment decrement	arithmetic	logical	comparison	member access	other
a = b a += b a -= b a *= b a /= b a %= b a &= b a |= b a ^= b a <<= b a >>= b	++a --a a++ a--	+a -a a + b a - b a * b a / b a % b ~a a & b a | b a ^ b a << b a >> b	!a a && b a || b	a == b a != b a < b a > b a <= b a >= b	a[b] *a &a a->b a.b a->*b a.*b	a(...) a, b (type) a ? :
Special operators
static_cast converts one type to another compatible type dynamic_cast converts virtual base class to derived class const_cast converts type to compatible type with different cv qualifiers reinterpret_cast converts type to incompatible type new allocates memory delete deallocates memory sizeof queries the size of a type sizeof... queries the size of a parameter pack (since C++11) typeid queries the type information of a type noexcept checks if an expression can throw an exception (since C++11) alignof queries alignment requirements of a type (since C++11)

C documentation for C operator precedence