Operand

In mathematics, an operand is one of the inputs (arguments) of an Operator. For instance, in

:3 + 6 = 9

+ is the operator and 3 and 6 are the operands.

The number of operands of an operator is called its arity. Based on arity, operators are classified as unary operation, binary operation, ternary operation etc.

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In computer programming languages, the definitions of operator (programming) and operand are almost the same as in mathematics.

Additionally, in assembly language, an operand is a value (an argument) on which the Instruction, named by mnemonic, operates. The operand may be a processor register, a memory address, a literal constant, or a label. A simple example (in the x86 architecture) is

:MOV   DS, AX

where the value in register operand AX is to be moved into register DS . Depending on the instruction, there may be zero, one, two, or more operands.