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Increment (++) and Decrement (--) Operators

Visual Studio 2010

Increments or decrements the value of a variable by one.

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//prefix syntax
++variable
--variable
//postfix syntax
variable++
variable--

variable

Any numeric variable.

The increment and decrement operators are used as a shortcut to modify the value stored in a variable and access that value. Either operator may be used in a prefix or postfix syntax.

If

Equivalent Action

Return value

++variable

variable += 1

value of variable after incrementing

variable++

variable += 1

value of variable before incrementing

--variable

variable -= 1

value of variable after decrementing

variable--

variable -= 1

value of variable before decrementing

The following example illustrates the difference between prefix and postfix syntax for the ++ operator.

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// Example of prefix increment operator
var j1 : int = 2;
var k1 : int;
k1 = ++j1;          // k1 is 3, the value of j1 after incrementing

// Example of postfix increment operator
var j2 : int = 2;
var k2 : int;
k2 = j2++;          // k2 is 2, the value of j2 before incrementing
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