Modulo

In computing, the modulo operation returns the remainder or signed remainder of a division, after one number is divided by another (called the modulus of the operation).

Given two positive numbers a and n, a modulo n (often abbreviated as a mod n) is the remainder of the Euclidean division of a by n, where a is the dividend and n is the divisor.[1]

For example, the expression “5 mod 2” would evaluate to 1, because 5 divided by 2 has a quotient of 2 and a remainder of 1, while “9 mod 3” would evaluate to 0, because 9 divided by 3 has a quotient of 3 and a remainder of 0; there is nothing to subtract from 9 after multiplying 3 times 3.

Although typically performed with a and n both being integers, many computing systems now allow other types of numeric operands. The range of values for an integer modulo operation of n is 0 to n − 1 inclusive (a mod 1 is always 0; a mod 0 is undefined, possibly resulting in a division by zero error in some programming languages). See Modular arithmetic for an older and related convention applied in number theory.

When exactly one of a or n is negative, the naive definition breaks down, and programming languages differ in how these values are defined.

Variants of the definition
Notation
Common pitfalls
Performance issues
Properties (identities)
In programming languages
Generalizations

Modulo with offset
Implementing other modulo definitions using truncation
See also