What is the difference between postfix and prefix

Asked 10 years, 3 months ago. Active 24 days ago. Viewed k times. Improve this question. Chris Frederick 5, 3 3 gold badges 34 34 silver badges 41 41 bronze badges. Because what is really happening are two things, first i is being returned and then i is being incremented. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Two things on this line: i is incremented to The new value of i is copied into j.

So j now equals Two things on this line as well: i is incremented to The original value of i which is 11 is copied into k. So k now equals The same stuff holds for postfix and prefix versions of Improve this answer.

I find it remarkable that people are still trying to edit this answer assuming I got the numbers wrong. All one has to do is run this code and print the values to see that I am correct. The numbers are correct, but the code isn't explained very well. I would also add to this that the value categories of expressions differ.

Show 4 more comments. Raktim Biswas 3, 5 5 gold badges 24 24 silver badges 30 30 bronze badges. Dilu Thankachan Dilu Thankachan 1 1 silver badge 2 2 bronze badges. Abdelrhman Fawzy Abdelrhman Fawzy 1 1 silver badge 6 6 bronze badges.

Rafe Kettler Rafe Kettler Let's keep this as simple as possible. B First i is incremented then the console. C Console. D Prints the value of i. Justin Meskan Justin Meskan 4 4 silver badges 18 18 bronze badges. Depending on its location, they will be classified as either prefix operators or postfix operators. If they are written before the operand, then they are termed as prefix operators.

However, if they are written after the operand, then they are termed as postfix operators. The main difference between the two is the placement: either before or after the operand. There are various notations to write an arithmetic expression. They do not change the output of the expression. These notations include infix notation, prefix notation, and postfix notation. What is Infix — Definition, Examples 2. What is Prefix — Definition, Examples 3. What is Postfix — Definition, Examples 4.

They have a common structure as follows. The operator refers to the operation that should be performed while the operand refers to the value the operation is performed on. In these expressions, the operators are used in between the operands.

This type of notation is easier for humans to read and understand.