Python Assignment Statements

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You might think that this topic is as dry as a desert sandstorm, but trust us, it’s not all boring and dull. In fact, assignments can be pretty fun once you know how they work!

Before anything else what is an assignment statement? Well, it’s a line of code that assigns a value to a variable in your program. It looks like this:

# Assigning a value of 42 to the variable my_variable
my_variable = 42

This creates a new variable called `my_variable`, and sets its initial value to the number 42. Pretty straightforward, right? But what if you want to assign multiple variables at once? That’s where things get interesting!

You can use Python’s assignment operator (=) in combination with other operators like + or *= to create some pretty cool assignments. For example:

# Assigns the value 0 to the variables x and y simultaneously
x = y = 0

This creates two new variables, `x` and `y`, and sets their initial values both to zero! You can also use the walrus operator (:=) for assignment expressions, which is a fancy way of saying “assign this value and store it in a variable”. Here’s an example:

# This creates a new variable, `num`, and assigns it the value of the user's input, converted to an integer.
num = int(input("Enter a number: "))

# This checks if the value of `num` is greater than 10.
if num > 10:
    # If the condition is met, this prints a message.
    print("That's a big one!")

This code reads the user input, converts it to an integer using `int()`, and assigns that value to the variable `num`. It then checks if `num` is greater than 10. Pretty cool, huh? But what about those ***** assignment statements with expressions on the right-hand side? You know, like this:

# This code reads user input and converts it to an integer using the int() function
num = int(input("Enter a number: "))

# Checks if num is greater than 10
if num > 10:
    print("Wow, that's a big number!")

# Assigns the sum of y and z multiplied by 2 to the variable x
x = y + z * 2

This can be a bit tricky to read and understand at first glance, but it’s actually pretty straightforward. The expression `y + z * 2` is evaluated first, and then the result is assigned to the variable `x`. It’s like doing math in your head, except you don’t have to remember all those numbers!

They might not be as exciting as jumping out of an airplane or bungee jumping off a bridge, but they are essential for any Python programmer. And who knows? Maybe one day you’ll create the next big thing in Python using nothing more than some clever assignments!

Later !

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