Assignment Operators in C

We use this type of operator to transform as well as assign the values to any variable in an operation. In any given assignment operator, the right side is a value, and the left side is a variable. The value present on the right side of the operator must have the same data type as that of the variable present on the left side. In any other case, the compiler raises an error.

In this article, we will take a look into the Assignment Operators in C according to the GATE Syllabus for CSE (Computer Science Engineering). Read ahead to know more.

Table of Contents

• Working Of Assignment Operators In C
• Example Of Assignment Operators In C
• Practice Problems On Assignment Operators In C
• Faqs

Types of Assignment Operators in C

An assignment operator is basically a binary operator that helps in modifying the variable to its left with the use of the value to its right. We utilize the assignment operators to transform and assign values to any variables.

Here is a list of the assignment operators that you can find in the C language:

• basic assignment ( = )
• subtraction assignment ( -= )
• addition assignment ( += )
• division assignment ( /= )
• multiplication assignment ( *= )
• modulo assignment ( %= )
• bitwise XOR assignment ( ^= )
• bitwise OR assignment ( |= )
• bitwise AND assignment ( &= )
• bitwise right shift assignment ( >>= )
• bitwise left shift assignment ( <<= )

Working of Assignment Operators in C

Here is a table that discusses, in brief, all the Assignment operators that the C language supports:

Example of Assignment Operators in C

Let us look at an example to understand how these work in a code:

The compilation and execution of the program mentioned above will produce a result as follows:

Line A – = Example of the Value of y = 21

Line B – -= Example of the Value of y = 21

Line C – += Example of the Value of y = 42

Line D – /= Example of the Value of y = 21

Line E – *= Example of the Value of y = 441

Line F – <<= Example of the Value of y = 44

Line G – %= Example of the Value of y = 11

Line H – &= Example of the Value of y = 2

Line I – >>= Example of the Value of y = 11

Line J – |= Example of the Value of y = 2

Line K – ^= Example of the Value of y = 0

Here is another example of how the assignment operators work in the C language:

The output generated here will be:

z = x + y = 15

z += x = 20

z -= x = 15

z *= x = 75

z /= x = 1

z = x = 5

z &= x = 0

z ^= x = 10

z |= x = 10

z <<= 2 = 40

z >>= 2 = 10

z >>= 2 = 2

Practice Problems on Assignment Operators in C

1. What would be the output obtained from the program given below?

#include<stdio.h>

int main()

{

int p = 2;

p += p += p += 3;

printf(“%d”,p);

return 0;

}

A. 20

B. 30

C. 11

D. 9

Answer – A. 20

p+=p+=p+=3; it can written as p+=p+=p=p+3; p=2; Or, p+=p+=5; p=5; Or, p+=p=5+5; p=5; Or, p+=10; p=10; Or, p=p+10; p=10; Or, p=20. So, finally p=20.

2. Which of these is an invalid type of assignment operator?

A. x |= 10

B. x %= 10

C. x /= 10

D. None of these

Answer – D. None of these

All of these are valid types of assignment operators.

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Also Explore,

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