Java Operator Precedence

Java Operator Precedence

Highest to Lowest Precedence Table

Precedence Level Operators Type Associativity
1️⃣ Highest (), [], . Parentheses, array access, object access Left → Right
2️⃣ ++, -- Unary (postfix) Left → Right
3️⃣ ++, --, +, -, !, ~ Unary (prefix) Right → Left
4️⃣ *, /, % Multiplicative Left → Right
5️⃣ +, - Additive Left → Right
6️⃣ <<, >>, >>> Shift operators Left → Right
7️⃣ <, <=, >, >=, instanceof Comparison Left → Right
8️⃣ ==, != Equality Left → Right
9️⃣ & Bitwise AND Left → Right
🔟 ^ Bitwise XOR Left → Right
1️⃣1️⃣ Bitwise OR
1️⃣2️⃣ && Logical AND Left → Right
1️⃣3️⃣
1️⃣4️⃣ ?: Ternary (conditional) Right → Left
1️⃣5️⃣ Lowest =, +=, -=, *=, /=, etc. Assignment Right → Left

📌 Example 1: Without Parentheses

 

Output:

20

Why? * has higher precedence than +, so calculation is:

5 * 2 = 10
10 + 10 = 20

📌 Example 2: With Parentheses



Output:

30

📌 Example 3: Logical + Comparison


Breakdown:

  • 5 + 3 → 8

  • 8 > 6 → true

  • 2 < 5 → true

  • true && true → true

Output:

true

📌 Example 4: Assignment Right-to-Left


Output:

10 10 10

📌 Example 5: Ternary vs Arithmetic



Output:

25

Because y + 5 is evaluated, since condition x > y is false.

✔️ Summary

  • Operators with higher precedence execute first.

  • Parentheses () can be used to control the order.

  • Assignment and ternary operators evaluate right-to-left.

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