Questions tagged [division]

In mathematics, especially in elementary arithmetic, division (÷) is an arithmetic operation. Specifically, if b times c equals a (b × c = a) where b is not zero, then a divided by b equals c (a ÷ b = c).

In the expression a ÷ b = c, a is called the dividend, b the divisor and c the quotient.

In programming, division is usually represented by the / symbol. There are two import forms of division in most programming languages:

• In floating point division which operates on floating point or other rational numeric datatypes, the fractional part of the result is included (to the accuracy provided by the datatype):

  float a = 5.0;
  float b = 2.0;
  float c = a / b;   // c = 2.5
  

• In integer division which operates on integral numeric datatypes, the fractional part of the result is discarded, as in following example:

  int a = 5;
  int b = 2;
  int c = a / b;     //  c = 2