Basic Operations

Mathematical Operations

Add

q)2+6
8

Subtract

q)10-5
5

Divide

% is used instead of /, as / is used for comment

q)10%2
5f        / f means float

Multiply

q)2*7
14

Order of operation

q follows right to left order instead of BODMAS

q)5*2+3   / 3+2=5*5=25
25

Order can be forced using brackets

q)(5*2)+3
13

Assignment

any entity(atom/function/list/table) in q can be assigned to a variable using operator :

q)a:5
q)b:6     / values are not displayed in next line as before, they are stored(assigned)
q)c:7
q)d:a+b+c
q)d       / to display value, enter variable name
18

Comparison or Logical operators

Two numbers/entities can be compared using :

• < less than
• > greater than
• <= less than or equal to
• >= greater than or equal to
• = equal to - only checks underlying value
• <> not equal to
• ~ match - checks underlying value and type

  q)a<b
  1b
  q)d<>a
  1b
  q)c<b
  0b         / 1b stand for true, 0b for false
  q)5.0=5
  1b
  q)5.0~5
  0b
  

Compound and Multiple Assignment

Compound Assignment

q)x:10
q)x:x+2     / add 2 to x and store the result in x
q)x
12
q)x+:2      / add 2 to x
q)x
14

Multiple Assignment

q)a:2
q)c:7*b:2+a   / multiple variables are assigned in same statement
q)a
2
q)b
4
q)c
28
q)\v          / to view all variables defined till now \v
`a`b`c`x

Exit q

q)\\          / double black slash