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

c_operators.htm