Assignment Operators in C

By | February 18, 2023

Prerequisite – Operators in C
In C, assignment operators are used to assign a value to a variable. They combine the assignment operation (=) with an arithmetic, bitwise, or other operation. Here are the assignment operators in C:

List of Assignment Operators in C:

Operator Example Equivalent to
= a = b a = b
+= a += b a = a + b
-= a -= b a = a – b
*= a *= b a = a * b
/= a /= b a = a / b
%= a %= b a = a % b
<<= a <<= b a = a << b
>>= a >>= b a = a >> b
&= a &= b a = a & b
^= a ^= b a = a ^ b
|= a |= b a = a | b

Example:
Here’s an example code that demonstrates the use of assignment operators in C:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int a = 10;
    int b = 20;

    printf("a = %d, b = %d\n", a, b);

    a += b;
    printf("a += b: %d\n", a);

    a -= b;
    printf("a -= b: %d\n", a);

    a *= b;
    printf("a *= b: %d\n", a);

    a /= b;
    printf("a /= b: %d\n", a);

    a %= b;
    printf("a %%= b: %d\n", a);

    a <<= b;
    printf("a <<= b: %d\n", a);

    a >>= b;
    printf("a >>= b: %d\n", a);

    a &= b;
    printf("a &= b: %d\n", a);

    a ^= b;
    printf("a ^= b: %d\n", a);

    a |= b;
    printf("a |= b: %d\n", a);

    return 0;
}

When you run this code, you will see the following output:

a = 10, b = 20
a += b: 30
a -= b: 10
a *= b: 200
a /= b: 10
a %= b: 10
a <<= b: 10240
a >>= b: 20
a &= b: 20
a ^= b: 0
a |= b: 20

This output shows the results of using each of the assignment operators with the variables a and b. The value of a changes after each operation, and the result is printed to the console.

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Author: Mithlesh Upadhyay

Mithlesh Upadhyay is a Computer Science and AI expert from Madhya Pradesh with strong academic background (BE in CSE and M.Tech in AI) and over six years of experience in technical content development. He has contributed tech articles, led teams, and worked in Full Stack Development and Data Science. He founded the w3colleges.org portal for learning resources.