What are the rules for assignment expressions in the C language?
The rules for assignment expressions in the C programming language are as follows:
- The assignment operator “=” is used to assign the value of the expression on the right to the variable on the left.
- The expression on the right can be a constant, variable, function call, arithmetic expression, relational expression, etc.
- The variable on the left must be mutable (i.e., it cannot be a constant).
- The assignment operator is right-to-left associative, meaning that the expression on the right is calculated first and then assigned to the variable on the left.
- The value of the assignment expression is equal to the value of the expression on the right.
- The assignment expressions can be nested, for example, a = b = c = 0; which assigns 0 to c, then assigns the value of c to b, and finally assigns the value of b to a.
- The value of an assignment expression can be used as part of another expression. For example, a = b + (c = 10); assigns the value of 10 to c first, then calculates b + 10, and finally assigns the result to a.
- The assignment operator has lower precedence than most other operators, like arithmetic, relational, and logical operators. To change the priority of an expression, parentheses can be used. For example, a = (b + c) * d; first calculate b + c, then multiply by d, and finally assign the result to a.
- An assignment expression can be used to assign values to multiple variables simultaneously. For example, a = b = c = 0; assigns 0 to c, then assigns the value of c to b, and finally assigns the value of b to a. This allows for assigning values to multiple variables in a single statement.