Overview

In computer programming, assignment operators are used to assign values to variables. The operators are essential in manipulating data and updating variables with new values. A value can be stored in a variable using the assignment operator.

Simple Assignment Operator

The simple assignment operator ( =) assigns the value on the right side of the operator to the variable on the left side. The operand on the left-hand side(LHS) should be a variable. The operand on the right-hand side(RHS) can be any variable, constant, or expression. The value of the right-hand operand is assigned to the left-hand operand.

Examples

Some examples of assignment expressions:

x = 8; /* 9 is assigned to the variable x */

In the above programming statement, the value 9 is assigned to the variable x.

y=x;

In the above programming statement, the value of the variable x is assigned to the variable y.

expr = x+y+3;    /* The value of expression x+y+3

                              is assigned to the variable expr */

 

In the above programming statement, the value of the expression x+y+3 is assigned to the variable expr.

We can also have multiple assignment operators in a single statement. For example, the three variables x,y, and z will be assigned the value 6.

x=y=z=6;

Compound Assignment Operators

When the variable on the lefthand side of the assignment operator also occurs on the right-hand side, we can avoid writing the variable twice by using compound assignment operators.

x+=9;

For example, x=x+9 can also be written as x+=9. The += is a compound assignment operator called as the Add and Assign Operator.

x-=7; /* is equivalent to x=x-7 */
x*=7; /* is equivalent to x=x*7 */
x/=7; /* is equivalent to x=x/5 */