CONTROL STRUCTURES I: SELECTION - Java Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design - page 186

TABLE 4-8 Precedence of Operators

Operators Precedence

! , + , - (unary operators) first (highest)

* , / , %

second

+ , -

third

< , <= , >= , > fourth

== , !=

fifth

&&

sixth

|| seventh

= (assignment operator)

last (lowest)

Using the precedence rules given in Table 4-8, in an expression, relational and logical
operators are evaluated from left to right, and consequently the associativity of these
operators is said to be from left to right.
You can insert parentheses into an expression to clarify its meaning or to affect the precedence.

EXAMPLE 4-4

Evaluate the following expression:
(17 < 4 * 3 + 5) || (8 * 2 ¼¼ 4 * 4) && !(3 + 3 ¼¼ 6)
Now:

(17 < 4 * 3 + 5) || (8 * 2 == 4 * 4) && !(3 + 3 == 6)

= (17 < 12 + 5) || (16 == 16) && !(6 == 6)

= (17 < 17) || true && !( true )

= false || true && false

= false || false (because true && false is false )

= false

Therefore, the value of the original logical expression is false .

You can also use parentheses to override the precedence of operators. For example, in the
expression:

(7 >= 8 || 'A' < 'B') && 5 * 4 == 20