Assignment Operators

An assignment operator assigns a value to — or changes the value of — the variable on its left-hand side. Besides the plain =, Python offers a family of augmented (shorthand) assignment operators that combine an arithmetic operation with assignment in a single step.

Simple assignment: =

Assigns the value of the right-side operand to the left-side operand.

>>> num1 = 2
>>> num2 = num1
>>> num2
2
>>> country = 'India'
>>> country
'India'

Augmented assignment operators

Each shorthand form x op= y means exactly the same as x = x op y — the operation is performed first, and the result is stored back in the left-side variable.

Add and assign: +=

Adds the right-side operand to the left-side operand and stores the result in the left-side operand. x += y is the same as x = x + y.

>>> num1 = 10
>>> num2 = 2
>>> num1 += num2
>>> num1
12
>>> num2
2

Because + also concatenates strings, += works on strings too:

>>> str1 = 'Hello'
>>> str2 = 'India'
>>> str1 += str2
>>> str1
'HelloIndia'

Subtract and assign: -=

Subtracts the right-side operand from the left-side operand and assigns the result to the left. x -= y is the same as x = x - y.

>>> num1 = 10
>>> num2 = 2
>>> num1 -= num2
>>> num1
8

Multiply and assign: *=

Multiplies the two operands and assigns the result to the left-side operand. x *= y is the same as x = x * y.

>>> num1 = 2
>>> num1 *= 3
>>> num1
6

Since * also repeats strings, *= does as well:

>>> a = 'India'
>>> a *= 3
>>> a
'IndiaIndiaIndia'

Divide and assign: /=

Divides the left-side operand by the right-side operand and assigns the quotient to the left. x /= y is the same as x = x / y. As with plain division, the result is a float:

>>> num1 = 6
>>> num2 = 3
>>> num1 /= num2
>>> num1
2.0

Modulus and assign: %=

Performs the modulus (remainder) operation and stores the result in the left-side operand. x %= y is the same as x = x % y.

>>> num1 = 7
>>> num2 = 3
>>> num1 %= num2
>>> num1
1

Floor-divide and assign: //=

Performs floor division and assigns the result to the left-side operand. x //= y is the same as x = x // y.

>>> num1 = 7
>>> num2 = 3
>>> num1 //= num2
>>> num1
2

Exponent and assign: **=

Performs the power calculation and assigns the result to the left-side operand. x **= y is the same as x = x ** y.

>>> num1 = 2
>>> num2 = 3
>>> num1 **= num2
>>> num1
8

Quick reference