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Assignment Operators in C
In C, the assignment operator stores a certain value in an already declared variable. A variable in C can be assigned the value in the form of a literal, another variable or an expression. The value to be assigned forms the right hand operand, whereas the variable to be assigned should be the operand to the left of = symbol, which is defined as a simple assignment operator in C. In addition, C has several augmented assignment operators.
The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language −
Operator | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
= | Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand | C = A + B will assign the value of A + B to C |
+= | Add AND assignment operator. It adds the right operand to the left operand and assign the result to the left operand. | C += A is equivalent to C = C + A |
-= | Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts the right operand from the left operand and assigns the result to the left operand. | C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A |
*= | Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies the right operand with the left operand and assigns the result to the left operand. | C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A |
/= | Divide AND assignment operator. It divides the left operand with the right operand and assigns the result to the left operand. | C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A |
%= | Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes modulus using two operands and assigns the result to the left operand. | C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A |
<<= | Left shift AND assignment operator. | C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2 |
>>= | Right shift AND assignment operator. | C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2 |
&= | Bitwise AND assignment operator. | C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2 |
^= | Bitwise exclusive OR and assignment operator. | C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2 |
|= | Bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator. | C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2 |
Simple assignment operator (=)
The = operator is the most frequently used operator in C. As per ANSI C standard, all the variables must be declared in the beginning. Variable declaration after the first processing statement is not allowed. You can declare a variable to be assigned a value later in the code, or you can initialize it at the time of declaration.
You can use a literal, another variable or an expression in the assignment statement.
int x = 10; // declaration with initialization int y; //declaration y = 20; // assignment later int z = x+y; //assign an expression int d = 3, f = 5; // definition and initializing d and f. char x = 'x'; // the variable x has the value 'x'.
Once a variable of a certain type is declared, it cannot be assigned a value of any other type. In such a case the C compiler reports a type mismatch error.
In C, the expressions that refer to a memory location are called "lvalue" expressions. A lvalue may appear as either the left-hand or right-hand side of an assignment.
On the other hand, the term rvalue refers to a data value that is stored at some address in memory. A rvalue is an expression that cannot have a value assigned to it which means an rvalue may appear on the right-hand side but not on the left-hand side of an assignment.
Variables are lvalues and so they may appear on the left-hand side of an assignment. Numeric literals are rvalues and so they may not be assigned and cannot appear on the left-hand side. Take a look at the following valid and invalid statements −
int g = 20; // valid statement 10 = 20; // invalid statement; would generate compile-time error
Augmented assignment operators
In addition to the = operator, C allows you to combine arithmetic and bitwise operators with the = symbol to form augmented or compound assignment operator. The augmented operators offer a convenient shortcut for combining arithmetic or bitwise operation with assignment.
For example, the expression a+=b has the same effect of performing a+b first and then assigning the result back to the variable a.
Example
#include <stdio.h> int main() { int a = 10; int b = 20; a+=b; printf("a: %d", a); return 0; }
Output
a: 30
Similarly, the expression a<<=b has the same effect of performing a<<b first and then assigning the result back to the variable a.
Example
#include <stdio.h> int main() { int a = 60; int b = 2; a<<=b; printf("a: %d", a); return 0; }
Output
a: 240
Example
Here is a C program that demonstrates the use of assignment operators in C:
#include <stdio.h> int main() { int a = 21; int c ; c = a; printf("Line 1 - = Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c += a; printf("Line 2 - += Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c -= a; printf("Line 3 - -= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c *= a; printf("Line 4 - *= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c /= a; printf("Line 5 - /= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c = 200; c %= a; printf("Line 6 - %%= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c <<= 2; printf("Line 7 - <<= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c >>= 2; printf("Line 8 - >>= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c &= 2; printf("Line 9 - &= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c ^= 2; printf("Line 10 - ^= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); c |= 2; printf("Line 11 - |= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c ); return 0; }
Output
When you compile and execute the above program, it produces the following result −
Line 1 - = Operator Example, Value of c = 21 Line 2 - += Operator Example, Value of c = 42 Line 3 - -= Operator Example, Value of c = 21 Line 4 - *= Operator Example, Value of c = 441 Line 5 - /= Operator Example, Value of c = 21 Line 6 - %= Operator Example, Value of c = 11 Line 7 - <<= Operator Example, Value of c = 44 Line 8 - >>= Operator Example, Value of c = 11 Line 9 - &= Operator Example, Value of c = 2 Line 10 - ^= Operator Example, Value of c = 0 Line 11 - |= Operator Example, Value of c = 2