ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Operator precedence in C and C++

Operator precedence in C and C++ defines the order in which different types of operations, like addition, subtraction, and multiplication, are performed in an expression. It's like following the rules of a game where some moves are more important than others.

Think of it like a math problem where you have to solve an equation in steps. For example, you have the expression "3 + 4 * 2" and you have to figure out the answer. What do you do first? Do you add 3 and 4, or do you multiply 4 and 2?

In C and C++, the rules for operator precedence dictate that multiplication is done first, so you would perform 4 * 2, which is 8. Then you would add 3, which gives you a final answer of 11.

This is because the "*" operator has higher precedence than the "+" operator. This means that whenever you have an expression with both operators, the multiplication will be performed first.

But what happens if you want to change the order of operations? You can use parentheses like in regular math. For example, if you have the expression "(3 + 4) * 2", you would first add 3 and 4 inside the parentheses, which is 7. Then you would multiply 7 by 2, which gives you a final answer of 14.

In summary, operator precedence in C and C++ refers to the order in which different types of operations are performed in an expression. Multiplication and division have higher precedence than addition and subtraction, and parentheses can be used to change the order of operations.