C# Assignment Operators
Assignment operators are used to give values to variables. You have already met the most important one, the single equals sign =. But C# also provides compound assignment operators that let you update a variable based on its current value in a shorter, cleaner way.
The basic assignment operator
The = operator takes the value on its right and stores it in the variable on its left. It is important to remember that in C# a single = means assign, not equals. Comparing for equality is done with ==, which you will meet on the next page.
Assigning a value
int score = 10;
score = 20; // score now holds 20
Console.WriteLine(score);Compound assignment operators
Very often you want to update a variable using its own current value, for example adding points to a running total. Instead of writing score = score + 5, you can use the compound operator += to say the same thing more briefly.
The long way vs the short way
int score = 10;
score = score + 5; // long way, score is 15
score += 5; // short way, score is 20
Console.WriteLine(score);Common assignment operators
Compound operators in action
int total = 100;
total -= 30; // 70
total *= 2; // 140
total /= 7; // 20
Console.WriteLine(total); // 20- Use = to give a variable its first value.
- Use +=, -=, *=, /=, or %= to update a variable based on what it already holds.
- Compound operators make code shorter and easier to read, especially inside loops.
