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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ c language โ€บ difference-between-unary-and-binary-operators
Difference between Unary and Binary Operators - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - Unary Operator is an operator that operates on a single operand, meaning it affects only one value or variable.
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IBM
ibm.com โ€บ docs โ€บ en โ€บ cloud-pak-system-software โ€บ 2.3.3
IBM Cloud Pak System Software
Expressions perform specific actions, based on an operator, with one or two operands. An operand can be a constant, a variable or a function result. Operators are arithmetic, logical, and relational. As with C, some operators vary in functionality according to the data type of the operands ...
mathematical operation with only one operand
In mathematics, a unary operation is an operation with only one operand, i.e. a single input. This is in contrast to binary operations, which use two operands. An example is any function โ€ฆ Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org โ€บ wiki โ€บ Unary_operation
Unary operation - Wikipedia
October 9, 2025 - In mathematics, a unary operation is an operation with only one operand, i.e. a single input. This is in contrast to binary operations, which use two operands.
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IncludeHelp
includehelp.com โ€บ c-programming-questions โ€บ what-is-the-difference-between-unary-and-binary-operators.aspx
What is the difference between Unary and Binary Operators in C and C++?
&x here & is a Unary Address of Operator which is returning the address of variable x. The Operators which operate on Two Operands known as Binary Operators, some of the binary operators are:
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+ is both a unary and binary operator. The unary + form (+a) forces the operand to be evaluated as a number or a pointer, while the binary form + form (a + b) is addition.

Unary + is generally the opposite of unary -; applying it to any numeric value will not change it. (+1 == 1) However, it does have some uses, including forcing an array to decay into a pointer:

template <typename T> void foo(const T &) { }

void test() {
    int a[10];

    foo(a);  // Calls foo<int[10]>()
    foo(+a); // Calls foo<int*>()
}

(Demo)

It's the same deal with the - and * operators. You have -a (negation) and a - b (subtraction); *a (pointer dereference) and a * b (multiplication).

You overload both versions differently. For overloading via member functions:

public:
    T operator+() const;          // Unary
    T operator+(const U &) const; // Binary

As with any other operator overload, both forms can return a value different from their enclosing type; for example you might have a string class whose operator+() returns a numeric type. This would be in line with the convention of unary + evaluating its operand as a number.

You can overload these operators as free functions, too:

T operator+(const U &);            // Unary, called on type U and returns T.
T operator+(const U &, const V &); // Binary, called on types U and V and returns T.
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Unary + as in +a is defined to complement unary - (-a). It is the "default" so actually not often if ever used. However it can be used with variables refering to classes, where it can be overloaded to have a class-specific meaning. So it is not quite entirely useless.

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Cocoa Casts
cocoacasts.com โ€บ swift-fundamentals-what-are-unary-binary-and-ternary-operators
What Are Unary, Binary, and Ternary Operators
Swift defines many more unary operators. Another common unary operator is the logical NOT operator. It toggles a boolean value as you can see in the example below. ... As the name suggests, a binary operator operates on two operands.
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Quora
quora.com โ€บ What-is-the-definition-of-unary-and-binary
What is the definition of unary and binary? - Quora
In the context of computer language operators, unary means the operator takes one operand, while binary means the operator takes two operands. In some languages, there are ternary operators, which (as you might have gue...
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GitHub
github.com โ€บ hsutter โ€บ cppfront โ€บ wiki โ€บ Design-note:-Postfix-unary-operators-vs-binary-operators
Design note: Postfix unary operators vs binary operators
most unary operators including * and & naturally want to be postfix (see Design note: Postfix operators), and ยท we want to support all Cpp1 operators in order to ensure great compatibility with all existing C++ libraries including those that overload all the possible operators (e.g., expression templates) but that includes binary * and &
Author ย  hsutter
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freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org โ€บ news โ€บ unary-binary-ternary-operators-javascript
Unary, Binary, and Ternary Operators in JavaScript โ€“ Explained with Examples
January 17, 2023 - But know that there are more unary operators such as the increment ++, decrement ++, and Logical NOT ! operators, to name a few. These operators require two operands for operation. If one or more than two operands are provided, such operators result in a syntax error. Let's look at some operators that fall under this category ยท All arithmetic operators are binary operators.
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Medium
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Unary and Binary Operators in Python | by Graham Waters | Towards Data Analytics | Medium
March 30, 2022 - A Unary Operator is a computational operator that takes any action on one operand and produces only one result. For example, the โ€œ-โ€ binary operator in Python turns the operand negative (if positive) and positive (if negative).
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Lenovo
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What You Need to Know About Unary Operators | Lenovo US
A unary operator is an operator that operates on only one operand, unlike binary operators, which operate on two operands. It performs various operations on a single value, such as negating, incrementing, decrementing, or complementing it. Unary operators are commonly used in programming languages ...
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YouTube
youtube.com โ€บ watch
Unary Operator And Binary Operator in Python Programming Language - YouTube
In this python video tutorial we will learn about unary and binary operators in detail with example.Python is an versatile in demand programming language wid...
Published ย  September 8, 2024
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Stack Exchange
math.stackexchange.com โ€บ questions โ€บ 4834346 โ€บ when-does-a-unary-version-of-a-binary-operator-make-sense
boolean algebra - When does a unary version of a binary operator make sense? - Mathematics Stack Exchange
Subtraction ($x - y$) is a binary operator that also has a useful unary version ($-x$), which can be seen as a simple shorthand for the binary version ($-x \Leftrightarrow 0-x$). An unary version o...
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Educative
educative.io โ€บ home โ€บ courses โ€บ data structures preliminaries (refresher of fundamentals in c++) โ€บ unary and binary operators
Understanding Unary and Binary Operator Overloading in ...
In C++, operators play a fundamental role in performing various operations on data. They can be broadly categorized into two types: unary operators, which take a single parameter, and binary operators, which work with two parameters.
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Cocoa Casts
cocoacasts.com โ€บ what-is-the-difference-between-a-unary-binary-and-ternary-operator
What Is the Difference Between a Unary, Binary, and ...
The difference between a unary operator and a binary operator is the number of operands the operators acts upon. A unary operator acts upon one operand.
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W3Resource
w3resource.com โ€บ oracle โ€บ operators โ€บ index.php
Oracle Unary and Binary Operators - w3resource
Oracle Unary and Binary Operators: An operator is referred to as binary if it operates on two operands and an unary operator is an operator that operates on only one operand.