Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The arrow symbol, also known as the assignment operator, is used in programming to assign a value to a variable. It indicates that the value on the right side of the arrow should be stored in the variable on the left side.
Related terms
= (equals sign): The equals sign is another way to assign values to variables in programming.
== (double equals sign): The double equals sign is used for comparison operations to check if two values are equal.
+= (plus-equals operator): The plus-equals operator is used to add a value to an existing variable and update its value.