Assignment Operator

Last updated: Apr 12, 2026

Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign value to the variable. Assign operator is denoted by = symbol. For example, name = "Jessa" here, we have assigned the string literal 'Jessa' to a variable name. Also, there are shorthand assignment operators like a+=2 in Python.

Operator Description Example Equivalent To
= Assign value of right side of expression to left side operand x = y + z x = y + z
+= Add and Assign: Add right side operand with left side operand and then assign to left operand a += b a = a + b
-= Subtract AND: Subtract right operand from left operand and then assign to left operand a -= b a = a - b
*= Multiply AND: Multiply right operand with left operand and then assign to left operand a *= b a = a * b
/= Divide AND: Divide left operand with right operand and then assign to left operand a /= b a = a / b
%= Modulus AND: Takes modulus using left and right operands and assign result to left operand a %= b a = a % b
//= Divide(floor) AND: Divide left operand with right operand and then assign the value(floor) to left operand a //= b a = a // b
**= Exponent AND: Calculate exponent(raise power) value using operands and assign value to left operand a **= b a = a ** b
&= Performs Bitwise AND on operands and assign value to left operand a &= b a = a & b
|= Performs Bitwise OR on operands and assign value to left operand a |= b a = a | b
^= Performs Bitwise XOR on operands and assign value to left operand a ^= b a = a ^ b
>>= Performs Bitwise right shift on operands and assign value to left operand a >>= b a = a >> b
<<= Performs Bitwise left shift on operands and assign value to left operand a <<= b a = a << b

Example:

x = 10        # basic assignment
x += 5        # same as x = x + 5  → x is now 15
x -= 3        # same as x = x - 3  → x is now 12
x *= 2        # same as x = x * 2  → x is now 24
x /= 4        # same as x = x / 4  → x is now 6.0
x //= 2       # same as x = x // 2 → x is now 3.0
x %= 2        # same as x = x % 2  → x is now 1.0
x **= 3       # same as x = x ** 3 → x is now 1.0