Assignment
Computers must be told what value to assign to variables, using an assignment statement such as
averageOverClass = 21.14
mayor = “Paul Schell”
The general form of an assignment statement is
<variable name> <assignment symbol> <expression>
- Languages use different assignment symbols: = := ?
- Read assignment as “is assigned”, or “becomes” or “gets”
- All three components must always be present
Fundamental property of assignment
The “flow” of information is always right-to-left
- destination = source
- changedVariable = value
Meta-brackets < > enclose language defining terms