Assignment operators in C# allow us to assign values to variables.
The most common assignment operator is the =
operator. This operator is used to assign the value on the right to the variable on the left.
In addition to the basic assignment operator (=
), there are compound assignment operators that combine an arithmetic operation with assignment, simplifying and optimizing the code.
If you want to learn more about Assignment Operators
check the Introduction to Programming Course read more
Basic assignment operator (=
)
The basic assignment operator (=
) is used to assign a value to a variable. For example:
int a = 5; // Assigns the value 5 to the variable a
The assignment operator is also used to update the value of a variable. For example:
int a = 5; // Initial assignment
a = 10; // Update the value
Do not confuse the assignment operator =
with the equality comparator ==
Compound assignment operators
Add and Assign (+=
)
The +=
operator adds a value to a variable and assigns the result to that variable. For example:
int a = 5;
a += 3; // a is now 8 (equivalent to a = a + 3)
Subtract and Assign (-=
)
The -=
operator subtracts a value from a variable and assigns the result to that variable. For example:
int a = 10;
a -= 3; // a is now 7 (equivalent to a = a - 3)
Multiply and Assign (*=
)
The *=
operator multiplies a variable by a value and assigns the result to that variable. For example:
int a = 4;
a *= 6; // a is now 24 (equivalent to a = a * 6)
Divide and Assign (/=
)
The /=
operator divides a variable by a value and assigns the result to that variable. For example:
int a = 20;
a /= 4; // a is now 5 (equivalent to a = a / 4)
Modulo and Assign (%=
)
The %=
operator calculates the modulo of a variable by a value and assigns the result to that variable. For example:
int a = 17;
a %= 5; // a is now 2 (equivalent to a = a % 5)
Operator precedence
It is important to remember that assignment operators have a lower precedence than most other operators in C#. Therefore, expressions on the right side of the assignment operators are evaluated first.
int a = 5;
int b = 10;
a += b * 2; // a is now 25 (b * 2 is evaluated first, then a += 20)