Capturing User Input

The input() function pauses execution to accept data from the console. It always evaluates to a string, regardless of what the user types.

user_data = input("Enter your preferred programming language: ")
print(user_data, type(user_data))

To perform mathematical operations on user input, convert the string using int() or float().

num1 = int(input("Provide the first integer: "))
num2 = int(input("Provide the second integer: "))
print(f"Sum: {num1 + num2}")

Operator Categories

Arithmetic Operators

Standard math operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication, true division, floor division, modulo, and exponentiation.

print(15 + 5)   # 20
print(15 - 5)   # 10
print(4 * 5)    # 20
print(15 / 4)   # 3.75
print(15 // 4)  # 3 (Floor division)
print(15 % 4)   # 3 (Modulo/Remainder)
print(3 ** 4)   # 81 (3 to the power of 4)

When mixing positive and negative numbers, floor division rounds down towards negative infinity. The modulo result takes the sign of the divisor.

print(-15 // 4)  # -4
print(-15 % 4)  # 1 (Because -15 = 4 * (-4) + 1)

Assignment Operators

Values are assigned using =. Multiple variables can share the same value via chained assignment.

x = y = z = 100

Augmented assignments combine arithmetic with assignment, modifying the variable in place.

val = 50
val += 20  # val is now 70
val -= 10  # val is now 60
val *= 2   # val is now 120
val /= 4   # val is now 30.0 (division results in float)
val //= 3  # val is now 10.0
val %= 6   # val is now 4.0

Unpacking assignment allows mapping multiple values to multiple variables in one line. This also enables swapping values without a temporary variable.

p, q, r = 10, 20, 30
p, q = q, p  # Swaps the values of p and q

Comparison Operators

These evaluate to boolean values (True or False). The == operator checks for value equality, while is checks for memory identity (whether two references point to the exact same object).

m, n = 50, 100
print(m > n)   # False
print(m < n)   # True
print(m == n)  # False
print(m != n)  # True

list_a = [1, 2, 3]
list_b = [1, 2, 3]
print(list_a == list_b)  # True (values are identical)
print(list_a is list_b)  # False (different objects in memory)

Boolean Operators

Logical operators and, or, and not evaluate complex conditions. Membership operators in and not in check for existence within sequences.

a, b = 10, 20
print(a == 10 and b == 20)  # True
print(a < 5 or b > 15)     # True
print(not False)            # True

chars = "python"
print('t' in chars)         # True
print('z' not in chars)     # True

Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators work on the binary representations of integers.

print(6 & 3)   # 2 (Bitwise AND: 110 & 011 = 010)
print(6 | 3)   # 7 (Bitwise OR: 110 | 011 = 111)
print(6 << 1)  # 12 (Left shift: multiply by 2^1)
print(6 >> 1)  # 3  (Right shift: divide by 2^1)

Operator Precedence

Evaluation follows a strict hierarchy: Parentheses take the highest priority, followed by Exponentiation, Unary operators, Multiplication/Division, Addition/Subtraction, Bitwise shifts, Comparison operators, Logical NOT/AND/OR, and finally Assignment operators.