Operator Precedence in Java

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It is important that all developers have an understand of operator precedence as it defines the order in which operators are used. Most people will have come across operator precedence in mathematics but software takes it to the next level. An example of why understanding precednce is important is this simple statement:

x = 1 + 2 * 3;

What is the value of x. Is is seven or nine? The correct answer is seven because the multiplier has a higher precedence than the addition operator and so the multiplication is carried out first. The table below shows the full list of operator precedence in Java.

Priority	Operator	Operation Name	Associativity	Example
1	[]	Array Index	Left	foo[ 10 ];
	()	Method Call		foo.bar();
	.	Member Access		foo.bar;
2	++, --	Pre/Post Increment and Decrement	Right	x++
	+, -	Unary plus and minus		-x
	~	bitwise NOT		~x
	!	boolean (Logical) NOT		boolean x = !y;
	(type)	Type Cast		Foo f = (Foo)Bar;
	new	Object Creation		new Foo();
3	*, /, %	Multiplication, Division, Remainder	Left	1 * 2 / 3
4	+, -	Addition, Subtraction	Left	1 + 2 - 3
4	+	String Concatenation	Left	"foo" + "bar"
5	<<, >>	Signed Bit Shift Left, Right	Left	x >> y
5	>>>	Unsigned Bit Shift Right	Left	x >>> y
6	<. <=	Less Than, Less Than Or Equal	Left	x <= y
	>, >=	Greater Than, Greater Than Or Equal		x >= y
	instance of	Instance Comparison		foo instance of bar
7	==	Equal To	Left	foo == bar
7	!-	Not Equal To	Left	foo != bar
8	&	Bitwise AND	Left	x & y
8	&	Boolean (Logical) AND	Left	x &y
9	^	Bitwise XOR	Left	x ^ y
9	^	Boolean(Logical) XOR	Left	x ^y
10	\|	Bitwise OR	Left	x \| y
10	\|	Boolean (Logical) OR	Left	x \| y
11	&&	Boolean (Logical) AND	Left	x && y
12	\|\|	Boolean (Logical) OR	Left	x \|\| y
13	?:	Ternary Operator	Right	foo ? bar : baz
14	=	Assignment	Right	x = y
14	*=, /=, +=, -=, %=, <<=, >>=, >>>=, &=, ^=, \|=	Combination Operations	Right	x += y