Operand

In mathematics, an operand is an object to which an operator (+, -, ×, ÷) is applied. For example, in the equation 7 + 5 = 12, the numbers 7 and 5 are operands. The plus symbol (+) is the operator and the value after the equal sign (12) is the result.

In computer science, an operand is a value within a function. It may be a specific number or a variable. Operands can be defined within a function or passed into a function via one or more parameters. The function below includes three operands, including two variables and one constant.

sumPlusTen(x, y)
{
	const Z = 10;
	$sum = $x + $y + Z;
	return $sum;
}

In the example above, $x, $y, and Z are operands in the equation used to calculate $sum. The variables $x and $y are passed to the function sumPlusTen() as parameters, while the constant Z is defined within the function as 10. If sumPlusTen(5,6) is called with a program, it would calculate $sum using the operands 5, 6, and 10 and return a value of 21.