What term describes the order in which operations are performed in an expression?

The term that describes the order in which operations are performed in an expression is known as "operator precedence." While the term "priorities" may suggest a related concept, it is not used formally in programming contexts in the same way as "operator precedence." This precedence dictates how certain operations take priority over others in calculating the result of a complex expression. For instance, in most programming languages, multiplication and division are performed before addition and subtraction unless parentheses alter that order. Understanding operator precedence is crucial for writing effective and bug-free code, as it affects how expressions are evaluated and can lead to different outcomes if applied incorrectly.

The other terms do not accurately capture the concept of operational order. "Hierarchy" might imply a ranking but does not specifically pertain to order of operations, "sequence" refers to the order of execution of statements in a program rather than operations within an expression, and "binding" relates to the association between operators and operands, particularly in terms of how tightly operators are coupled with their operands, which plays a role in precedence but does not directly refer to the order of operations themselves.