Arithmetic Expressions

The evaluation of an arithmetic expression results in a numeric value. An arithmetic expression can be any of the following:

A constant
A variable
An operation
A series of constants, variables, and operations combined with one or more arithmetic operators.

Example

COUNTER - 1

This expression consists of a variable name, the subtraction operator (-), and a constant.

It equals the value of COUNTER minus 1.

Valid arithmetic operators are listed in the following table:

Symbol	Purpose
+	Addition
-	Subtraction
*	Multiplication
/	Division
**	Exponential

When evaluating expressions that contain more than one operator, PROIV follows precedence rules to determine the order in which operations are performed. An operation with higher precedence is evaluated before an operation with lower precedence.

Operator	Precedence
**	Highest
* /
+ -	Lowest

Parentheses can be used to alter the normal precedence.

Two operations of the same precedence, such as * and /, are evaluated from left to right. Examples:

A * B + C / D	The multiplication (*) and division (/) operations are performed before the addition.
A + B * C	B is multiplied by C, then A is added to the result.
(A + B) * C	A is added to B, then the result is multiplied by C.

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Topic ID: 520005