Assignment Operators

C++ Assignment Operators

Assignment operators store values into variables. The simple one is the = sign.

Plain assignment

int x = 10;
x = 5;   // x is now 5

Read x = 5 as "x takes the value 5".

Compound assignment: shorter math

Operators like += combine math with assignment: how about they add the value to the variable and store the result back.

int x = 10;
x += 5;  // x is 15
x -= 2;  // x is 13
x *= 3;  // x is 39
x /= 4;  // x is 9 (integer division)
x %= 3;  // x is 0

They match the arithmetic operators

• += is shorthand for x = x + value.
• -= for x = x - value.
• *=, /=, %= work the same way with their own math.

Great for counters

int score = 0;
score += 10;  // much shorter than score = score + 10;

Compound assignment keeps score lines short and clear.

TL;DR

• = stores a value into a variable.
• x += 5 is the same as x = x + 5.
• Compound forms exist for +, -, *, /, %.
• Only mul, the careful bit.