How to add two numbers without using ++ or + or another arithmetic operator

Question

How do I add two numbers without using ++ or + or any other arithmetic operator?

It was a question asked a long time ago in some campus interview. Anyway, today some

Answer 1

With given answers above, it can be done in single line code:

int add(int a, int b) {
    return (b == 0) ? a : add(a ^ b, (a & b) << 1);
}

Answer 2

Code to implement add,multiplication without using +,* operator; for subtraction pass 1's complement +1 of number to add function

#include<stdio.h>

unsigned int add(unsigned int x,unsigned int y)
{
         int carry=0;
    while (y != 0)
    {

        carry = x & y;  
        x = x ^ y; 
        y = carry << 1;
    }
    return x;
}
int multiply(int a,int b)
{
    int res=0;
    int i=0;
    int large= a>b ? a :b ;
    int small= a<b ? a :b ;
    for(i=0;i<small;i++)
    {
           res = add(large,res);                    
    }
    return res;
}
int main()
{
    printf("Sum :: %u,Multiply is :: %d",add(7,15),multiply(111,111));
    return 0;
}

Answer 3

#include<stdio.h>

int add(int x, int y) {
    int a, b;
    do {
        a = x & y;
        b = x ^ y;
        x = a << 1;
        y = b;
    } while (a);
    return b;
}


int main( void ){
    printf( "2 + 3 = %d", add(2,3));
    return 0;
}

Answer 4

## to add or subtract without using '+' and '-' ## 
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
#include<process.h>

void main()
{
    int sub,a,b,carry,temp,c,d;

    clrscr();

    printf("enter a and b:");
    scanf("%d%d",&a,&b);

    c=a;
    d=b;
    while(b)
    {
        carry=a&b;
        a=a^b;
        b=carry<<1;
    }
    printf("add(%d,%d):%d\n",c,d,a);

    temp=~d+1;  //take 2's complement of b and add it with a
    sub=c+temp;
    printf("diff(%d,%d):%d\n",c,d,temp);
    getch();
}

Answer 5

You can use double negetive to add two integers for example:

int sum2(int a, int b){
    return -(-a-b);
}

Answer 6

This is something I have written a while ago for fun. It uses a two's complement representation and implements addition using repeated shifts with a carry bit, implementing other operators mostly in terms of addition.

#include <stdlib.h> /* atoi() */
#include <stdio.h>  /* (f)printf */
#include <assert.h> /* assert() */

int add(int x, int y) {
    int carry = 0;
    int result = 0;
    int i;

    for(i = 0; i < 32; ++i) {
        int a = (x >> i) & 1;
        int b = (y >> i) & 1;
        result |= ((a ^ b) ^ carry) << i;
        carry = (a & b) | (b & carry) | (carry & a);
    }

    return result;
}

int negate(int x) {
    return add(~x, 1);
}

int subtract(int x, int y) {
    return add(x, negate(y));
}

int is_even(int n) {
    return !(n & 1);
}

int divide_by_two(int n) {
    return n >> 1;
}

int multiply_by_two(int n) {
    return n << 1;
}

int multiply(int x, int y) {
    int result = 0;

    if(x < 0 && y < 0) {
        return multiply(negate(x), negate(y));
    }

    if(x >= 0 && y < 0) {
        return multiply(y, x);
    }

    while(y > 0) {
        if(is_even(y)) {
            x = multiply_by_two(x);
            y = divide_by_two(y);
        } else {
            result = add(result, x);
            y = add(y, -1);
        }
    }

    return result;
}

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    int from = -100, to = 100;
    int i, j;

    for(i = from; i <= to; ++i) {
        assert(0 - i == negate(i));
        assert(((i % 2) == 0) == is_even(i));
        assert(i * 2 == multiply_by_two(i));
        if(is_even(i)) {
            assert(i / 2 == divide_by_two(i));
        }
    }

    for(i = from; i <= to; ++i) {
        for(j = from; j <= to; ++j) {
            assert(i + j == add(i, j));
            assert(i - j == subtract(i, j));
            assert(i * j == multiply(i, j));
        }
    }

    return 0;
}