https://toorun.dev/tags/operator-precedence/Recent content in operator-precedence on toorun.devHugo -- gohugo.ioen-usFri, 16 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000https://toorun.dev/posts/operator-precedence-how-programming-languages-evaluate-expressions/Fri, 16 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000https://toorun.dev/posts/operator-precedence-how-programming-languages-evaluate-expressions/Operator Precedence: How Programming Languages Evaluate Expressions What does this expression mean? 2 + 3 * 4 Is the answer 20 or 14? Most programming languages evaluate multiplication before addition, so the answer is 14. This rule is called operator precedence. It tells the language how to group parts of an expression when parentheses are absent. Precedence is useful, but it can make long expressions hard to read. In this post, we’ll cover common operators, how expressions are grouped, where languages differ, and how to write code whose meaning is clear.