<P> In computing, the modulo operation finds the remainder after division of one number by another (sometimes called modulus). </P> <P> Given two positive numbers, a (the dividend) and n (the divisor), a modulo n (abbreviated as a mod n) is the remainder of the Euclidean division of a by n . For example, the expression "5 mod 2" would evaluate to 1 because 5 divided by 2 leaves a quotient of 2 and a remainder of 1, while "9 mod 3" would evaluate to 0 because the division of 9 by 3 has a quotient of 3 and leaves a remainder of 0; there is nothing to subtract from 9 after multiplying 3 times 3 . (Note that doing the division with a calculator will not show the result referred to here by this operation; the quotient will be expressed as a decimal fraction .) </P>

What is the purpose of the modulus operator