Object-Oriented JavaScript - Third Edition

Operators

Operators take one or two values (or variables), perform an operation, and return a value. Let's check out a simple example of using an operator, just to clarify the terminology:

    > 1 + 2; 
    3 

In the preceding code:

• The + symbol is the operator
• The operation is addition
• The input values are 1 and 2 (they are also called operands)
• The result value is 3
• The whole thing is called an expression

Instead of using the values 1 and 2 directly in the expression, you can use variables. You can also use a variable to store the result of the operation as the following example demonstrates:

    > var a = 1; 
    > var b = 2; 
    > a + 1; 
    2 
    > b + 2; 
    4 
    > a + b; 
    3 
    > var c = a + b; 
    > c; 
    3 

The following table lists the basic arithmetic operators:

Operator symbol

Operation ...