Operators
Assignment Operators
- Beginner
- January 7, 2026
Explore Python assignment operators and understand how to update variable values using expressions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and others. Learn practical ways to apply these operators to simplify your code and perform calculations efficiently within Python.
Assignment Operators
| Name | Symbol | Syntax | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment | = |
var_1 = var_2
|
Assigns the value of var_2 to var_1 |
| Add and assign | += |
var_1 += var_2
|
Add var_2 to var_1 and assigns the result to var_1 |
| Subtract and assign | -= |
var_1 -= var_2
|
Subtracts var_2 from var_1 and assigns the result to var_1 |
| Multiply and assign | *= |
var_1 *= var_2
|
Multiplies var_1 by var_2 and assigns the result to var_1 |
| Divide and assign | /= |
var_1 /= var_2
|
Divides var_1 with var_2 and assigns the result to var_1; the result is always a float
|
| Floor divide and assign | //= |
var_1 //= var_2
|
Divides var_1 with var_2 and assigns the result to var_1; the result will be dependent on the type of values used
|
| Exponent and assign | **= |
var_1 **= var_2
|
Raises var_1 to the power of var_2 and assigns the result to var_1
|
| Modulo and assign | %= |
var_1 %= var_2
|
Calculates the remainder when var_1 is divided by var_2 and assigns the result to var_1
|
For demonstration purposes, let’s use a single variable, num. Initially, we set num to 6. We can apply all of these operators to num and update it accordingly.
Assignment
Assigning the value of 6 to num results in num being 6.
Expression: num = 6
Add and assign
Adding 3 to num and assigning the result back to num would result in 9.
Expression: num += 3
Subtract and assign
Subtracting 3 from num and assigning the result back to num would result in 6.
Expression: num -= 3
Multiply and assign
Multiplying num by 3 and assigning the result back to num would result in 18.
Expression: num *= 3
Divide and assign
Dividing num by 3 and assigning the result back to num would result in 6.0 (always a float).
Expression: num /= 3
Floor divide and assign
Performing floor division on num by 3 and assigning the result back to num would result in 2.
Expression: num //= 3
Exponent and assign
Raising num to the power of 3 and assigning the result back to num would result in 216.
Expression: num **= 3
Modulo and assign
Calculating the remainder when num is divided by 3 and assigning the result back to num would result in 2.
Expression: num %= 3
Code
We can effectively put this into Python code, and you can experiment with the code yourself! Click the “Run” button to see the output.
num = 6
num2 = 0
num2 = num
print(num2)
num += 3
print(num)
num -= 3
print(num)
num *= 3
print(num)
num /= 3
print(num)
num //= 3
print(num)
num **= 3
print(num)
num %= 3
print(num)
Assignment operators in Python
The above code is useful when we want to update the same number. We can also use two different numbers and use the assignment operators to apply them on two different values.
num_one = 6
num_two = 3
print(num_one)
num_one += num_two
print(num_one)
num_one -= num_two
print(num_one)
num_one *= num_two
print(num_one)
num_one /= num_two
print(num_one)
num_one //= num_two
print(num_one)
num_one **= num_two
print(num_one)
num_one %= num_two
print(num_one)
Assignment operators in Python
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