Operators in the C Programming Language

Notes:

• The parentheses in the topmost row are the function-call operator. Parentheses can also be used to group sub-expressions to force a different precedence and associativity, but in that case they are not an operator.
• (type){initializer-list} in the topmost row is the compund literal, which the C standard lists among postfix operators. For example, you can write (int[3]){7, 7, 5}. It was introduced in C99.
• The _Alignof operator is new in C11.
• The + on the second row is unary plus, as in +2, while the + on the fourth row is binary plus, as in 2+2. Same for -.
• The * on the second row is the indirection ("pointer-following") operator, while the * on the third row is the multiplication operator.
• The & on the second row is the address-of operator, while the & on row eight is the bitwise AND operator.
• The comma in the last row is the comma operator. Commas are also used to separate arguments in a function call, but that is not the comma operator.
• This table is based on The C Programming Language, Second Edition ("K&R2") by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie, and on section 6.5 of the final committee draft of the C11 standard (N1570, dated April 12, 2011).
• The C compiler in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 uses a very old C dialect, so don't expect C11 or even C99 constructs to work there.