Operators of VB.NET

An operator is a symbol that instruct computer to perform certain kind of operation on its operands.
Following are the various types of operators supported by VB.NET:
(1) Arithmetic Operator
(2) Comparison Operator
(3) String Concatenation Operator
(4) Logical Operator
(5) Assignment Operator

(1) Arithmetic Operator:

Following are the list of Arithmetic operators supported by VB.NET: Suppose we declare three variables:

Dim a as integer, b as integer, c as integer
a = 5
b = 2

Operator	Meaning	Example
+	It performs arithmetic addition of two operands and returns the result.	c = a + b It returns 7
-	It performs arithmetic subtraction of two operands and returns the result.	c = a - b  It returns 3
*	It performs arithmetic multiplication of two operands and returns the result.	c = a * b  It returns 10
/	It performs arithmetic division of two operands and returns the result.	c = a / b  It returns 2.5
\	It performs arithmetic division of two operands and returns the result as an integer. It means it will ignore the result after the decimal point.	c = a \ b  It returns 2
^	It raises one operand with another operand and returns the result. It means find the exponent value of one operand with respect to another operand.	c = a ^ b  It returns 32
Mod	It performs arithmetic division of two operands and returns the remainder of the division as result.	C = A Mod B  It returns 1

(2) Comparison Operator

Following are the list of Comparison operators supported by VB.NET:
Suppose we declare two variables:

Dim a as integer, b as integer
a = 5
b = 2

Operator	Meaning	Example
=	It compares two operands and returns TRUE if both operands are equal otherwise it returns FALSE.	A = B It returns FALSE
<>	It compares two operands and returns TRUE if both operands are not equal otherwise it returns FALSE.	A <> B It returns TRUE
<	It compares two operands and returns TRUE if Operand1 is less then Operand2 otherwise it returns FALSE.	A < B It returns FALSE
>	It compares two operands and returns TRUE if Operand1 is greater then Operand2 otherwise it returns FALSE.	A > B It returns TRUE
<=	It compares two operands and returns TRUE if Operand1 is less then or equal to Operand2 otherwise it returns FALSE.	A <= B It returns FALSE
>=	It compares two operands and returns TRUE if Operand1 is greater then or equal to Operand2 otherwise it returns FALSE.	A >= B It returns TRUE
Like	Like operator works for string operands. It is used to determine weather string match with particular pattern or not. Pattern can be defined using following characters: * 0 or more occurrence of any characters ? single character # single digit [Character List] single character in the range. [! CharacterList] single character not in the range.	Dim a as string=”Hello” a Like “H*” returns true. a Like “H?” returns false.

(3)String Concatenation Operator

Following are the list of concatenation operators supported by VB.NET.
Consider Following Example:

Dim a as string, b as string, c as string
Dim d as integer, e as integer, f as integer
a = “Hello”
b = “How Are You”
d = 2
e = 3

Operator	Meaning	Example
&	It Concate two operands or string.	c = a & b It returns Hello How Are You f = d + e It returns 23
+	It Concate two operands or string. If both the operand are numeric then instead of concating them it will produce addition of operands.	c = a + b It returns Hello How Are You f = d + e It returns 5

(4) Logical Operator

Following are the list of Logical Operators supported by VB.NET:
Consider Following Example:

Dim a as Boolean, b as Boolean, c as Boolean
a = true
b = false

Operator	Meaning	Example
And	It accepts Boolean value or condition as operands and returns TRUE if both operands are TRUE otherwise it returns FALSE.	c = a And b It returns false
Or	It accepts Boolean value or condition as operands and returns TRUE if any of the operand is TRUE otherwise it returns FALSE.	c = a Or It returns false
Not	It reverses the logical state of its operand or condition. If operand or condition is true then it returns false. If operand or condition is false then it returns true.	c = Not (a And b) It returns true
Xor	It accepts Boolean value or condition as operands and returns FALSE if both operands are same otherwise it returns TRUE.	c = a Xor b It return true.
AndAlso	It works same as AND operator but It will not evaluate second operand if first operand is FALSE.	c = a AndAlso b It returns false.
OrElse	It works same as OR operator but It will not evaluate second operand if first operand is TRUE.	c = a OrElse b It returns true.

(5) Assignment Operator

Following are the list of Assignment Operators supported by VB.NET:

Operator	Meaning	Example
=	Assign value from the right side operand or expression to the operand on left side.	c = a * b
+=	Add right operand to left operand and assign result to left operand.	a = a + b can be written as a+=b
-=	Subtract right operand from left operand and assign result to left operand.	a = a - b can be written as a-=b
*=	Multiply right operand with left operand and assign result to left operand.	a = a * b can be written as a*=b
/=	Divide left operand by right operand and assign result to left operand.	a = a / b can be written as a/=b
\=	Divide left operand by right operand and assign result to left operand.	a = a \ b can be written as a\=b
^=	Raise left operand to the power of right operand and assign result to left operand.	a = a ^ b can be written as a^=b
&=	Concate left operand with right operand and assign result to left operand.	a = a & b can be written as a&=b