Python lacks pre-increment/decrement; `++count` is syntactically valid but inert

How can I utilize pre-increment and pre-decrement operators (++, --) in Python, similar to their usage in C++? Also, why does ++count execute without modifying the variable’s value?

Hey Anusha,

In Python, there are no pre-increment and pre-decrement operators like in C++. However, you can achieve similar effects in the following way.

Using Assignment Operators: You can use assignment operators (+= and -=) to increment and decrement variables by 1.

count = 0
count += 1  # Increment count
print(count)  # Output: 1

count -= 1  # Decrement count
print(count)  # Output: 0

Hey Anusha,

Using Functions: You can define functions to mimic the pre-increment and pre-decrement behaviour.

def pre_increment(x):
    return x + 1

def pre_decrement(x):
    return x - 1

count = 0
count = pre_increment(count)  # Increment count
print(count)  # Output: 1

count = pre_decrement(count)  # Decrement count
print(count)  # Output: 0

Hope this Answer works for you

Hey Anusha,

Using Unary Plus and Minus Operators: Python doesn’t have pre-increment and pre-decrement operators, but it has unary plus (+) and minus (-) operators, which can be used to achieve similar effects.


count = 0
count = +count + 1  # Increment count
print(count)  # Output: 1

count = -count - 1  # Decrement count
print(count)  # Output: -2 (since count was 1 after the first increment)

Regarding the behavior of ++count, in Python, ++ is not a pre-increment operator but two unary plus operators. It doesn’t actually increment the value of count; instead, it just returns the positive value of count.