Description

Decrements the value of a variable by 1.

Syntax

• x--; // decrement x by one and returns the old value of x
• --x; // decrement x by one and returns the new value of x

Parameters

x: variable. Allowed data types: int, long (possibly unsigned).

Returns

The original or newly decremented value of the variable.

Example Code

    x = 2;
    y = --x;  // x now contains 1, y contains 1
    y = x--;  // x contains 0, but y still contains 1

See also

• increment