The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
In the context of computer science the term operator has two different meanings. The first, and relatively trivial meaning, refers to the person whose responsibility it is to ensure that a computer or computer system is running properly. Tasks associated with the operator's position include preparing storage media and making backup copies of files.
The second meaning of operator is a symbol representative of a specific action. Many operators exist in the myriad of available programs and programming languages. For example, a plus sign is an operator, which represents addition. The other basic mathematical operators are the subtraction sign and the multiplication and division signs. For example, in the expression 5 + x, the + is the operator. The 5 and the x, the objects that are being manipulated, are called operands.
Mathematical operators are relatively simple in their actions. Other operators allow the manipulation of numbers and text in more complicated ways. A Boolean operator is one example. Boolean operators allow for a TRUE or FALSE determination of information. One type of Boolean operator is known as an OR operator. It can also be called an inclusive OR. This operator returns a value of TRUE if either or both of its operands is TRUE. Another type of operator, the exclusive OR, returns a TRUE value only when one of the operands is TRUE. If both operands have the same value, an exclusive OR does not return a TRUE value. Put another way, an inclusive OR can be "this, that, or both", while an exclusive OR means "this or that, but not both."
Another operator is called a relational operator. This type of operator allows one value to be compared to another. Hence, this operator is also known as a comparison operator. An example of a relational operator is the expression x > 10 (x is greater than 10). This expression will have a value of TRUE if the variable x is greater than 10. If x is less than 10, the expression will be FALSE.
Operators are essential for the construction of expressions, and so are a vital component of programs and programming languages.