In a programming language, assignment operators are typically used to assign values to variables.
In Python, the basic assignment operator works like this:
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
= | Assign a value to a variable | x = 2 |
Python also has seven arithmetic assignment operators, which are a sort of shorthand for performing two operations in sequence -- 1) arithmetic between a variable operand on the left of the expression and some other value on the right, and then 2) the assigning of the result back to the original variable:
| Operator | Description | Example | Equivalent To |
|---|---|---|---|
+= | Add a value to a variable | x += 2 | x = x + 2 |
-= | Subtract a value from a variable | x -= 2 | x = x - 2 |
*= | Multiply a variable by a value | x *= 2 | x = x * 2 |
**= | Raise a variable to the power of a value (exponentiation) | x **= 2 | x = x ** 2 |
/= | Divide a variable by a value | x /= 2 | x = x / 2 |
//= | Divide a variable by a value, and round down (floor division) | x //= 2 | x = x // 2 |
%= | The remainder of dividing a variable by a value (modulo) | x %= 2 | x = x % 2 |
Similarly, Python also has five bitwise assignment operators. These perform bitwise operations (the subject of a future article... ) between the left operand variable and a value on the right, assigning the result back to the variable:
| Operator | Description | Example | Equivalent To |
|---|---|---|---|
&= | Bitwise AND | x &= 2 | x = x & 2 |
|= | Bitwise OR | x |= 2 | x = x | 2 |
^= | Bitwise XOR | x ^= 2 | x = x ^ 2 |
>>= | Bitwise right shift | x >>= 2 | x = x >> 2 |
<<= | Bitwise left shift | x <<= 2 | x = x << 2 |
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