Arithmetic Operators in Visual Basic .NET
An arithmetic operator is a code element that performs some operation on one or more values and creates a result.
Those values are called operands.
For example, in the next statement, the operator is * (multiplication),
the operands are A and B while the result is assigned to the variable C:
Here we have a table that lists the most used arithmetic operators provided by Visual Basic:
Most of you are already familiar with these except maybe Modulus and Integer Division that may need a little more explanation:
As shown in the table, \ operator performs integer division and returns the result of dividing the first operand by the second, dropping any remainder.
It's very important to understand that the result is truncated toward zero, not rounded.
The Mod operator returns the remainder after dividing the operand by the second one e.g. 5 Mod 2 = 1 because 5 = 2 * 2 + 1
The following example code prints all even numbers in range 1 to 10:
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| C = A * B |
| OPERATOR | PURPOSE | EXAMPLE | RESULT |
| + | Addition | 2 + 2 | 4 |
| - | Substraction | 4 - 2 | 2 |
| - | Negation 1 operand* | - 2 | -2 |
| * | Multiplication | 2 * 2 | 4 |
| / | Division | 4 / 2 | 2 |
| \ | Integer Division | 9 \ 2 | 4 |
| ^ | Exponentiation | 2 ^ 3 | 2 * 2 * 2 = 8 |
| Mod | Modulus | 4 Mod 2 | 0 |
As shown in the table, \ operator performs integer division and returns the result of dividing the first operand by the second, dropping any remainder.
It's very important to understand that the result is truncated toward zero, not rounded.
The Mod operator returns the remainder after dividing the operand by the second one e.g. 5 Mod 2 = 1 because 5 = 2 * 2 + 1
The following example code prints all even numbers in range 1 to 10:
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| For i As Integer = 1 To 10 If i Mod 2 = 0 Then Console.WriteLine(i) ' an even number Else ' we do nothing as the number is odd End IfNext |
