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C Assignment Operators

Summary : in this tutorial, you’ll learn about the C assignment operators and how to use them effectively.

Introduction to the C assignment operators

An assignment operator assigns the vale of the right-hand operand to the left-hand operand. The following example uses the assignment operator (=) to assign 1 to the counter variable:

After the assignmment, the counter variable holds the number 1.

The following example adds 1 to the counter and assign the result to the counter:

The = assignment operator is called a simple assignment operator. It assigns the value of the left operand to the right operand.

Besides the simple assignment operator, C supports compound assignment operators. A compound assignment operator performs the operation specified by the additional operator and then assigns the result to the left operand.

The following example uses a compound-assignment operator (+=):

The expression:

is equivalent to the following expression:

The following table illustrates the compound-assignment operators in C:

• A simple assignment operator assigns the value of the left operand to the right operand.
• A compound assignment operator performs the operation specified by the additional operator and then assigns the result to the left operand.

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Assignment Operators in C

In C language, the assignment operator stores a certain value in an already declared variable. A variable in C can be assigned the value in the form of a literal, another variable, or an expression.

The value to be assigned forms the right-hand operand, whereas the variable to be assigned should be the operand to the left of the " = " symbol, which is defined as a simple assignment operator in C.

In addition, C has several augmented assignment operators.

The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language −

Simple Assignment Operator (=)

The = operator is one of the most frequently used operators in C. As per the ANSI C standard, all the variables must be declared in the beginning. Variable declaration after the first processing statement is not allowed.

You can declare a variable to be assigned a value later in the code, or you can initialize it at the time of declaration.

You can use a literal, another variable, or an expression in the assignment statement.

Once a variable of a certain type is declared, it cannot be assigned a value of any other type. In such a case the C compiler reports a type mismatch error.

In C, the expressions that refer to a memory location are called "lvalue" expressions. A lvalue may appear as either the left-hand or right-hand side of an assignment.

On the other hand, the term rvalue refers to a data value that is stored at some address in memory. A rvalue is an expression that cannot have a value assigned to it which means an rvalue may appear on the right-hand side but not on the left-hand side of an assignment.

Variables are lvalues and so they may appear on the left-hand side of an assignment. Numeric literals are rvalues and so they may not be assigned and cannot appear on the left-hand side. Take a look at the following valid and invalid statements −

Augmented Assignment Operators

In addition to the = operator, C allows you to combine arithmetic and bitwise operators with the = symbol to form augmented or compound assignment operator. The augmented operators offer a convenient shortcut for combining arithmetic or bitwise operation with assignment.

For example, the expression "a += b" has the same effect of performing "a + b" first and then assigning the result back to the variable "a".

Run the code and check its output −

Similarly, the expression "a <<= b" has the same effect of performing "a << b" first and then assigning the result back to the variable "a".

Here is a C program that demonstrates the use of assignment operators in C −

When you compile and execute the above program, it will produce the following result −

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1. Simple Assignment Operator (=)

Example of simple assignment operator.

2. Compound Assignment Operators

Example of Augmented Arithmetic and Assignment Operators

Example of Augmented Bitwise and Assignment Operators

Practice problems on assignment operators in c, 1. what will the value of "x" be after the execution of the following code, 2. after executing the following code, what is the value of the number variable, benefits of using assignment operators, best practices and tips for using the assignment operator, live classes schedule.

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• Assignment Operator in C

Last updated on July 27, 2020

We have already used the assignment operator ( = ) several times before. Let's discuss it here in detail. The assignment operator ( = ) is used to assign a value to the variable. Its general format is as follows:

The operand on the left side of the assignment operator must be a variable and operand on the right-hand side must be a constant, variable or expression. Here are some examples:

The precedence of the assignment operator is lower than all the operators we have discussed so far and it associates from right to left.

We can also assign the same value to multiple variables at once.

here x , y and z are initialized to 100 .

Since the associativity of the assignment operator ( = ) is from right to left. The above expression is equivalent to the following:

Note that expressions like:

are called assignment expression. If we put a semicolon( ; ) at the end of the expression like this:

then the assignment expression becomes assignment statement.

Compound Assignment Operator #

Assignment operations that use the old value of a variable to compute its new value are called Compound Assignment.

Consider the following two statements:

Here the second statement adds 5 to the existing value of x . This value is then assigned back to x . Now, the new value of x is 105 .

To handle such operations more succinctly, C provides a special operator called Compound Assignment operator.

The general format of compound assignment operator is as follows:

where op can be any of the arithmetic operators ( + , - , * , / , % ). The above statement is functionally equivalent to the following:

Note : In addition to arithmetic operators, op can also be >> (right shift), << (left shift), | (Bitwise OR), & (Bitwise AND), ^ (Bitwise XOR). We haven't discussed these operators yet.

After evaluating the expression, the op operator is then applied to the result of the expression and the current value of the variable (on the RHS). The result of this operation is then assigned back to the variable (on the LHS). Let's take some examples: The statement:

is equivalent to x = x + 5; or x = x + (5); .

Similarly, the statement:

is equivalent to x = x * 2; or x = x * (2); .

Since, expression on the right side of op operator is evaluated first, the statement:

is equivalent to x = x * (y + 1) .

The precedence of compound assignment operators are same and they associate from right to left (see the precedence table ).

The following table lists some Compound assignment operators:

The following program demonstrates Compound assignment operators in action:

Expected Output:

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How to Use Functions in C - Explained With Examples

Functions are an essential component of the C programming language. They help you divide bigger problems into smaller, more manageable chunks of code, making it simpler to create and run programs.

We'll look at functions in C, their syntax, and how to use them successfully in this article.

What is a Function in C?

A function is a block of code that executes a particular task in programing. It is a standalone piece of code that can be called from anywhere in the program.

A function can take in parameters, run computations, and output a value. A function in C can be created using this syntax:

The return_type specifies the type of value that the function will return. If the function does not return anything, the return_type will be void .

The function_name is the name of the function, and the parameter list specifies the parameters that the function will take in.

How to Declare a Function in C

Declaring a function in C informs the compiler about the presence of a function without giving implementation details. This enables the function to be called by other sections of the software before it is specified or implemented.

A function declaration usually contains the function name , return type , and the parameter types. The following is the syntax for defining a function in C:

Here, return_type is the data type of the value that the function returns. function_name is the name of the function, and parameter_list is the list of parameters that the function takes as input.

For example, suppose we have a function called add that takes two integers as input and returns their sum. We can declare the function as follows:

This tells the compiler that there is a function called add that takes two integers as input and returns an integer as output.

It's worth noting that function declarations do not include the function body, which includes the actual code that runs when the function is invoked.

The body of the function is defined independently of the function statement, usually in a separate block of code called the function definition.

Here's an example:

In this example, the add function is declared with a function statement at the top of the file, which specifies its name, return type ( int ), and parameters ( a and b , both int s).

The actual code for the add function is defined in the function definition. Here, the function simply adds its two parameters and returns the result.

The main function calls the add function with arguments 2 and 3 , and stores the result in the result variable. Finally, it prints the result using the printf function.

How to Use a Function in Multiple Source Files

If you want to use a function in numerous source files, you must include a function declaration (also known as a function prototype) in the header file and the definition in one source file.

when you build, you first compile the source files to object files, and then you link the object files into the final executable.

Let's create a header file called myfunctions.h :

In this header file, we declare a function add using a function statement.

Next, let's create a source file called myfunctions.c , which defines the add function:

In this file, we include the myfunctions.h header file using quotes, and we define the add function.

Finally, let's create a source file called main.c , which uses the add function:

In this file, we include both the stdio.h header file and our myfunctions.h header file using angle brackets and quotes, respectively. We then call the add function, passing in values a and b and storing the result in sum . Finally, we print the result using printf .

The way you create it is heavily influenced by your environment. If you are using an IDE (such as Visual Studio), you must position all files in the proper locations in the project.

If you are creating from the command line e.g Linux. To compile this program, you would need to compile both myfunctions.c and main.c and link them together as shown below:

The -c option instructs the compiler to create an object file with the same name as the source file but with a .o suffix. The final instruction joins the two object files to create the final executable, which is named program (the -o option specifies the name of the output file).

What Happens if You Call a Function Before Its Declaration in C?

In this instance, the computer believes the usual return type is an integer. If the function gives a different data type, it throws an error.

If the return type is also an integer, it will function properly. But some cautions may be generated:

In this code, the function function() is called before it is declared. This returns an error:

How to Define a Function in C

Assuming you want to create a code that accepts two integers and returns their sum, you can define a function that does that this way:

In this example, the function sum takes in two integer parameters – num1 and num2 . The function calculates their sum and returns the result. The return type of the function is int .

Where Should a Function Be Defined?

In C, a function can be defined anywhere in the program, as long as it is defined before it is used. But it is a good practice to define functions at the beginning of the file or in a separate file to make the code more readable and organized.

Here's an example code showing how to define a function in C:

In this example, the function add() is defined after its declaration (or prototype) within the same file.

Another approach is to define the function in a separate header file, which is then included in the main file using the #include directive. For example:

In this approach, the function declaration (or prototype) is included in the header file math.h , which is then included in the main file main.c using the #include directive. The function implementation is defined in a separate file math.c .

This approach allows for better code organization and modularity, as the function implementation can be separated from the main program code.

How to Call a Function in C

We can call a function from anywhere in the program once we've defined it. We use the function name followed by the argument list in parentheses to call a function. For example, we can use the following code to call the sum function that we defined earlier:

In this code, we are calling the sum function with a and b as its parameters. The function returns the sum of a and b , which is then stored in the variable c .

How to Pass Parameters to a Function

There are two methods of passing parameters (also called arguments) to a function in C: by value and by reference.

When we pass a parameter by value, the method receives a copy of the parameter's value. Changes to the parameter within the code have no effect on the initial variable outside the function.

When we pass a parameter by reference, the method receives a link to the parameter's memory location. Any modifications to the parameter within the code will have an impact on the initial variable outside the function.

Consider the following examples of passing parameters by value and by reference. Assuming we want to create a function that accepts an integer and multiplies it by two, the function can be defined as follows:

In this example, the function doubleValue takes in an integer parameter num by value. It doubles the value of num and assigns it back to num . However, this change will not affect the original value of num outside the function.

Here's another example that shows how you can pass a single parameter by value:

In this example, we define a function called square that takes an integer parameter num by value. Inside the function, we calculate the square of num and print the result. We then call the function with the argument 5 .

Now, let's look at an example of passing a parameter by reference:

In this example, we define a function square that takes an integer pointer parameter num by reference. Inside the function, we reference the pointer and calculate the square of the value pointed to by num .

We then call the function with the address of the integer variable x . After calling the function, the value of x is modified to be the square of its original value, which we then print in the main function.

In conclusion, functions are an essential component of C programming. You can use them to divide large problems into smaller, more manageable pieces of code.

You can declare and define functions in C, and pass parameters either by value or by reference. It's a good practice to declare all functions before using them, and to define them at the beginning of the file or in a separate file for better code organization and modularity.

By using functions effectively, you can write cleaner, more readable code that is easier to debug and maintain.

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Assignment operators

• 8 contributors

expression assignment-operator expression

assignment-operator : one of   =   *=   /=   %=   +=   -=   <<=   >>=   &=   ^=   |=

Assignment operators store a value in the object specified by the left operand. There are two kinds of assignment operations:

simple assignment , in which the value of the second operand is stored in the object specified by the first operand.

compound assignment , in which an arithmetic, shift, or bitwise operation is performed before storing the result.

All assignment operators in the following table except the = operator are compound assignment operators.

Assignment operators table

Operator keywords

Three of the compound assignment operators have keyword equivalents. They are:

C++ specifies these operator keywords as alternative spellings for the compound assignment operators. In C, the alternative spellings are provided as macros in the <iso646.h> header. In C++, the alternative spellings are keywords; use of <iso646.h> or the C++ equivalent <ciso646> is deprecated. In Microsoft C++, the /permissive- or /Za compiler option is required to enable the alternative spelling.

Simple assignment

The simple assignment operator ( = ) causes the value of the second operand to be stored in the object specified by the first operand. If both objects are of arithmetic types, the right operand is converted to the type of the left, before storing the value.

Objects of const and volatile types can be assigned to l-values of types that are only volatile , or that aren't const or volatile .

Assignment to objects of class type ( struct , union , and class types) is performed by a function named operator= . The default behavior of this operator function is to perform a member-wise copy assignment of the object's non-static data members and direct base classes; however, this behavior can be modified using overloaded operators. For more information, see Operator overloading . Class types can also have copy assignment and move assignment operators. For more information, see Copy constructors and copy assignment operators and Move constructors and move assignment operators .

An object of any unambiguously derived class from a given base class can be assigned to an object of the base class. The reverse isn't true because there's an implicit conversion from derived class to base class, but not from base class to derived class. For example:

Assignments to reference types behave as if the assignment were being made to the object to which the reference points.

For class-type objects, assignment is different from initialization. To illustrate how different assignment and initialization can be, consider the code

The preceding code shows an initializer; it calls the constructor for UserType2 that takes an argument of type UserType1 . Given the code

the assignment statement

can have one of the following effects:

Call the function operator= for UserType2 , provided operator= is provided with a UserType1 argument.

Call the explicit conversion function UserType1::operator UserType2 , if such a function exists.

Call a constructor UserType2::UserType2 , provided such a constructor exists, that takes a UserType1 argument and copies the result.

Compound assignment

The compound assignment operators are shown in the Assignment operators table . These operators have the form e1 op = e2 , where e1 is a non- const modifiable l-value and e2 is:

an arithmetic type

a pointer, if op is + or -

a type for which there exists a matching operator *op*= overload for the type of e1

The built-in e1 op = e2 form behaves as e1 = e1 op e2 , but e1 is evaluated only once.

Compound assignment to an enumerated type generates an error message. If the left operand is of a pointer type, the right operand must be of a pointer type, or it must be a constant expression that evaluates to 0. When the left operand is of an integral type, the right operand must not be of a pointer type.

Result of built-in assignment operators

The built-in assignment operators return the value of the object specified by the left operand after the assignment (and the arithmetic/logical operation in the case of compound assignment operators). The resultant type is the type of the left operand. The result of an assignment expression is always an l-value. These operators have right-to-left associativity. The left operand must be a modifiable l-value.

In ANSI C, the result of an assignment expression isn't an l-value. That means the legal C++ expression (a += b) += c isn't allowed in C.

Expressions with binary operators C++ built-in operators, precedence, and associativity C assignment operators

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Additional resources

• <cassert> (assert.h)
• <cctype> (ctype.h)
• <cerrno> (errno.h)
• C++11 <cfenv> (fenv.h)
• <cfloat> (float.h)
• C++11 <cinttypes> (inttypes.h)
• <ciso646> (iso646.h)
• <climits> (limits.h)
• <clocale> (locale.h)
• <cmath> (math.h)
• <csetjmp> (setjmp.h)
• <csignal> (signal.h)
• <cstdarg> (stdarg.h)
• C++11 <cstdbool> (stdbool.h)
• <cstddef> (stddef.h)
• C++11 <cstdint> (stdint.h)
• <cstdio> (stdio.h)
• <cstdlib> (stdlib.h)
• <cstring> (string.h)
• C++11 <ctgmath> (tgmath.h)
• <ctime> (time.h)
• C++11 <cuchar> (uchar.h)
• <cwchar> (wchar.h)
• <cwctype> (wctype.h)

Containers:

• C++11 <array>
• <deque>
• C++11 <forward_list>
• <list>
• <map>
• <queue>
• <set>
• <stack>
• C++11 <unordered_map>
• C++11 <unordered_set>
• <vector>

Input/Output:

• <fstream>
• <iomanip>
• <ios>
• <iosfwd>
• <iostream>
• <istream>
• <ostream>
• <sstream>
• <streambuf>

Multi-threading:

• C++11 <atomic>
• C++11 <condition_variable>
• C++11 <future>
• C++11 <mutex>
• C++11 <thread>
• <algorithm>
• <bitset>
• C++11 <chrono>
• C++11 <codecvt>
• <complex>
• <exception>
• <functional>
• C++11 <initializer_list>
• <iterator>
• <limits>
• <locale>
• <memory>
• <new>
• <numeric>
• C++11 <random>
• C++11 <ratio>
• C++11 <regex>
• <stdexcept>
• <string>
• C++11 <system_error>
• C++11 <tuple>
• C++11 <type_traits>
• C++11 <typeindex>
• <typeinfo>
• <utility>
• <valarray>
• C++11 mem_fn

wrapper classes

• binary_negate
• C++11 function
• C++11 reference_wrapper
• unary_negate

operator classes

• C++11 bit_and
• C++11 bit_or
• C++11 bit_xor
• greater_equal
• logical_and
• logical_not
• not_equal_to

other classes

• C++11 bad_function_call
• C++11 is_bind_expression
• C++11 is_placeholder
• C++11 placeholders
• binary_function
• const_mem_fun_ref_t
• const_mem_fun_t
• const_mem_fun1_ref_t
• const_mem_fun1_t
• mem_fun_ref
• mem_fun_ref_t
• mem_fun1_ref_t
• pointer_to_binary_function
• pointer_to_unary_function
• unary_function
• C++11 function::~function
• C++11 function::function

member functions

• C++11 function::assign
• C++11 function::operator bool
• C++11 function::operator()
• C++11 function::operator=
• C++11 function::swap
• C++11 function::target
• C++11 function::target_type

non-member overloads

• C++11 relational operators (function)
• C++11 swap (function)

std:: function ::assign

Return value

Exception safety.

C++ Tutorial

C++ functions, c++ classes, c++ reference, c++ examples, c++ assignment operators, assignment operators.

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.

In the example below, we use the assignment operator ( = ) to assign the value 10 to a variable called x :

The addition assignment operator ( += ) adds a value to a variable:

A list of all assignment operators:

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Std::function<r(args...)>:: assign.

Initializes the target with f . The alloc is used to allocate memory for any internal data structures that the function might use.

Equivalent to function ( std:: allocator_arg , alloc, std:: forward < F > ( f ) ) . swap ( * this ) ; .

[ edit ] Parameters

[ edit ] Return value

[ edit ] exceptions.

May throw implementation-defined exceptions.

[ edit ] See also

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Yankees could target versatile veteran as Jazz Chisholm replacement

There's a very real chance the New York Yankees will need to find a replacement for Jazz Chisholm with a stint on the injured list looming.

After an MRI revealed further damage to Chisholm's left elbow after injuring it sliding into home plate Monday night, the Yankees may be without the star infielder for significant time.

If they wanted to look outside the organization for a potential replacement while upgrading the bench, they could pursue Amed Rosario, who was just designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers .

This was a bit surprising considering his solid season with a 113 OPS + in 81 games. Though, the Dodgers needed to make room for the return of Mookie Betts.

Rosario has been a previous target of the Yankees before during last offseason. However, the veteran opted to sign with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rosario has experience playing three infield positions as well as the corner outfield. He would bring a quality bat to the bench while providing depth all over the field.

The Yankees are expecting veteran Jon Berti to being a rehab assignment soon, but they may not be able to afford to wait until he's fully healed.

A team higher in the waiver order might beat the Yankees to it, but Rosario makes a lot of sense as the Yankees look to find a replacement for Chisholm.

MORE YANKEES Yankees' superstar could sign deal worth 'half a billion dollars' Aaron Judge will make incredible history with next homer Yankees superstar projected to lead Team USA in 2028 Olympics

Hickey was previously the managing editor of USA Today's Colts Wire. His work is also featured as a fantasy football analyst for The Huddle.

The origins and different functions of swear words, from 'gadzooks' to the f-word

When Kate was growing up, saying "bum" was completely taboo. 

Lee says her 87-year-old mum is horrified by the f-word, but will use "bloody" in almost every sentence.

And Anna, a grandma, drops the c-bomb in conversation with her young neighbour, in order to connect.

These RN Life Matters listeners are just a few of the many Australians with a strong connection — positive or negative — to swearing, a practice which has changed wildly over the centuries and has much to teach us about ourselves.

From the once offensive "gadzooks" to slurs about body parts that have really stood the test of time, where did our swear words come from and why do we so love to use them?

The many ways to swear

There are four main reasons we swear, explains Howard Manns, senior lecturer in linguistics at Monash University.

There's the expletive function — handy, say, when you stub your toe.

We swear to abuse and insult. But we also swear to express solidarity; for example, we might call someone a "funny bastard".

That function is one repeated across the world.

"Calling your friend a bastard, or whatever you might call them, to index closeness is something we see in a lot of languages and a lot of cultures," Dr Manns says.

"It's been likened, actually, to the way that dogs and other animals playfully bite each other. It's our way as humans of playfully biting people that we like or want to like us."

Swearing can also be used to mark strength or attitude, by putting a distinctive twist on language.

"Sure, I can say 'absolutely'," Dr Manns says.

"But isn't it a little bit spicier if I say 'abso-bloody-lutely?'"

Origins of swear words

Swear words are derived from taboos — that's why "gadzooks" was once considered a swear word.

Taken from "God's hooks", it refers to the nails used to put Jesus on the crucifix.

"If you go back into Old English times, religious taboos were absolutely the harshest taboos you could use for your swear words," Dr Manns says.

"Damn" is another example.

"If you go back to the 14th century, it was essentially like using the f-word," he says.

"You find Englishmen using it so much that the French actually called the Englishmen 'damn' when they referred to them because they just heard them saying this word all the time."

The Victorian era is ripe for fascinating examples of swear words.

"A word like 'breast' or a word like 'leg' was really, really spicy for a long time. And we see evidence for this in that, for instance, we used to — and perhaps some people still do — refer to chicken breasts as 'white meat' and chicken legs as 'dark meat'.

"This is a carryover of the Victorian era."

For centuries, there have been words deemed inappropriate for women but acceptable for men, particularly within the realm of swearing.

"Verbal hygiene" and "watching the way you speak" were concepts commonly applied to women.

But from the 1960s to 1980s there was a movement of "verbal activism" that sought to change that, Dr Manns says.

"You had people like Germaine Greer who were going out of their way, first of all to use these words in public to try to tear down some of the taboo that was around women using words.

"But also you had them just making sure that men heard them and understood that women said these words too."

Some women paid a cost for their verbal activism. Germaine Greer, for example, was convicted and risked jail time for saying "bullshit" and "fuck" at a town hall meeting in New Zealand in 1972.

Bodily fluids hanging in there

Not all swear words have changed over time. Those to do with body parts or bodily fluids, for example, "are sticking on a little bit longer", Dr Manns says.

"Because these [continue to be] taboo words for people … in everyday society."

But that doesn't mean the way we use those words hasn't evolved.

Dr Manns points to work by Monash University PhD researcher Dylan Hughes, who observed Victorian secondary school students and noted that they used the c-word as an insult related to another person.

"But they won't use it if there's even the slightest touch of sexism associated with it, so there's definitely a lot of care taken," he says.

And as for who in the English-speaking world swears the best — or at least, the most — the jury is out.

Dr Manns says there is some evidence to suggest that Australians swear more than people in other countries.

But other research suggests, for better or worse, that we're trailing behind the US.

Point of pride? Or room for improvement?

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Brandon Pfaadt Joins Trio of Legends in Arizona Diamondbacks History Books

Sam connon | 11 hours ago.

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Brandon Pfaadt may not have tossed his cleanest gem on Monday, but he still managed to make history in the Arizona Diamondbacks' latest win.

Pfaadt retired the first six Colorado Rockies batters he faced, until Jake Cave doubled and Elías Díaz brought him home in the top of the third. A sacrifice fly and another Díaz RBI single kept the Rockies ahead in the fourth, and a home run by Brendan Rodgers put them on top 4-1 in the sixth.

Manager Torey Lovullo didn't give Pfaadt the hook, though, and he let the righty work his way out of the frame. Pfaadt came back out for the seventh, retiring the side in order.

All the while, Arizona got some momentum on offense by scoring two runs in the sixth and another two in the seventh. That put the Diamondbacks on top 5-4, where the score would remain for the rest of the night.

Pfaadt got credited with the win after Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez made scoreless appearances out of the bullpen. He wound up allowing four earned runs and eight hits in 7.0 innings, but he struck out 11 and did not walk a single batter.

This marks the second time in 2024 that Pfaadt has recorded 11-plus strikeouts and zero walks in a start, with the first occurance coming against the Seattle Mariners back on April 28. According to Underdog Fantasy's Justin Havens , Pfaadt is now one of four pitchers in Diamondbacks history to record multiple such starts in the same season.

Zac Gallen was the last to do so before Pfaadt. Before them, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were the only ones to achieve the feat.

Brandon Pfaadt joins Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling & Zac Gallen as the only pitchers in D-Backs franchise history to record multiple starts with 11+ K and 0 BB in the same season. — nugget chef (@jayhaykid) August 13, 2024

Pfaadt had an up-and-down rookie year in 2023, posting a 5.72 ERA, 1.406 WHIP and -0.4 WAR in the regular season. Across five playoff appearances, however, Pfaadt put up a 3.27 ERA and 1.091 WHIP en route to a National League pennant and World Series appearance.

Through 24 starts this season, Pfaadt is 7-5 with a 3.98 ERA, 1.113 WHIP and 1.4 WAR.

The 25-year-old righty will likely make his next appearance against the Tampa Bay Rays this coming weekend.

Meanwhile, the D-Backs have two games left against the Rockies before they head off to St. Petersburg, Florida. First pitch for game two of Arizona's series against Colorado is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our FanNation on SI coverage on social media by liking us on  Facebook  and by following us on Twitter  @FastballFN .

You can also follow Sam Connon on Twitter  @SamConnon .

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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Why do C++ sequence containers have an "assign" method but associative containers do not? [closed]

The "four basic kinds" of C++ sequence containers ( vector , forward_list , list , and deque ) all have an assign method. For example, std::vector has (quoting cppreference.com ):

These all have semantics that are, as far as I can tell, the same as using operator= on a temporary constructed using the arguments to the assign method. Why have a separate method to do, for example:

instead of just:

Meanwhile, the C++ associative containers such as std::map do not have an assign method. Why not? What reason is sufficiently compelling for the sequence containers to have it but not associative containers? In particular, my initial guess for why sequence containers have assign is it avoids creating a temporary in the applicable circumstance, but the same reasoning would apply to the associative containers, right? (And with move assignment, creating the temporary is probably insignificant anyway.)

This question has a practical application: I am creating a container that has characteristics of both a sequence and associative container, and wondering if there is a good reason to supply an assign method for it.

Some have claimed that this question is opinion-based , and hence inappropriate to ask on this site, but I think that is incorrect. I am not asking what the reader would do when designing a language, I am asking for the rationale used by the C++ language designers when designing the C++ language. This has an objectively correct answer: this decision was made by specific people for specific reasons. The question seeks those reasons.

There are several fact-based ways to answer a question like this:

There could be a clear, convincing technical basis for the decision, such that almost any competent designer would make the same choice. In this case, one needs only show a significant (say) performance advantage to having assign for sequence containers and a corresponding lack thereof for associative containers. These performance characteristics are not opinions. The highly-upvoted answer by JaMiT took this approach. (Whether a claimed technical basis is "convincing" is itself subjective, but that is a property of the answer, not the question, and even if one technical argument is found lacking, that does not exclude the possibility of a stronger one that hasn't yet been articulated.)

There could be a contemporaneous rationale document. I wasn't able to find one addressing this specific question, but that does not mean it does not exist. Any such document would definitively answer the question , reinforcing the claim that this question has an objectively correct answer, even if it may be challenging to discover it.

Similarly, one of the people involved in or witness to the decision could provide an answer based on that personal experience. In that case, one could potentially question the credibility of an answer, but that doesn't make it an opinion.

As is often the case with language features, there could be a pre-standardization proposal, and associated revision history of that proposal, from which a likely motivation can be at least inferred. Informed speculation based on such a proposal is not the same as an opinion, although speculation does involve an element of subjective judgment. In my answer, I took this approach, treating STL as the pre-standardization proposal.

• 1 "Why is it so and why isn't it so" are opinion based. My opinion - you can't know which pairs are inserted and which are not. –  3CxEZiVlQ Commented Aug 4 at 19:59
• 1 The sequence containers can easily reuse space by overwriting old values. The associative containers cannot really do that very effectively, as new values would have to be resorted. –  BoP Commented Aug 4 at 20:06
• 6 I'm not asking what the reader would do. I'm asking why the language designers made the choice they did. –  Scott McPeak Commented Aug 4 at 20:28
• 1 I'm asking why the language designers made the choice they did. We can't read their minds. std::map::assign was not even offered and discussed. –  3CxEZiVlQ Commented Aug 4 at 20:52
• 6 @3CxEZiVlQ But how would someone know that without asking? How sure are you there wasn't some perspective paper or mailing list/conference discussion addressing it? We don't necessarily have to "read their minds" ... we can just ask them - the language designers do show up to answer questions here occasionally. How much are you willing to bet that someone on the C++ standards committee won't chime in with a "well, when we were designing the interface ..." answer? Just because you can't provide a non-opinion based answer doesn't mean someone else here wouldn't be able to. –  R.M. Commented Aug 5 at 14:46

2 Answers 2

In particular, my initial guess for why sequence containers have assign is it avoids creating a temporary in the applicable circumstance, but the same reasoning would apply to the associative containers, right? (And with move assignment, creating the temporary is probably insignificant anyway.)

I think you've hit on two key points here, but you're missing some context and history. (Nitpick: it's the cost of move assignment that is insignificant, not the creation of the temporary.)

An assign method does avoid creating a temporary, but what is the cost of copying the temporary to the desired object? The cost is linear in the size of the container. Compare this to the cost of constructing the temporary object. For the sequence containers, the cost of construction is also linear in the size. However, for associative containers, the cost of construction has a logarithmic factor (N log(N)), with a possible (up to the implementation) exception in the special case where the input is already sorted.

So for sequence containers, the assign method can cut the cost roughly in half, which is a good win. However, for associative containers, the savings of an assign method is insignificant in terms of asymptotic behavior; there is little benefit to justify the complexity of another member function.

At this point, you might be trying to point out that moving is cheaper than copying, which brings us to your second point. Yes, moving a temporary container into a variable is an insignificant cost. However, move assignment was not introduced until C++11, while std::vector::assign , std::deque::assign , and std::list::assign predate C++11. So when the assign method was introduced, it was a savings. In C++11, the benefit was reduced to be insignificant.

You might note that std::array , which was introduced in C++11 (the same revision with move semantics), does not have an assign method. I do not know if that was intentional, but it is significant that no one has successfully pushed for an assign method to be added. There is no need for an assign method when move semantics accomplishes almost the same thing.

I must acknowledge that in contrast, std::forward_list was also introduced in C++11 and does have an assign method. I would attribute that to std::list having the method, and there was a desire to make the interface similar. It's more "that's how it's always been done" than addressing a need.

I am creating a container that has characteristics of both a sequence and associative container, and wondering if there is a good reason to supply an assign method for it.

Skip it. There's little benefit to it since C++11.

• I appreciate this answer (+1) and its insights helped direct my search, but I think it misses the mark a little by focusing on the asymptotics and in the final recommendation, hence I wrote my own. –  Scott McPeak Commented Aug 5 at 12:58
• 1 I think this answer fails to discuss the alternative. In the absence of assign , the alternative is to call (1) clear then (2) insert (range). Does assign have any significant benefit over clear + insert ? –  Matthieu M. Commented Aug 5 at 14:38

Short answer

In a comment, BoP writes:

The sequence containers can easily reuse space by overwriting old values. The associative containers cannot really do that very effectively, as new values would have to be resorted.

In other words:

For a sequence container, the assign method allows the existing storage to be reused by overwriting without any necessary allocation, whereas the alternatives (making a temporary and using operator= , or calling clear then insert ) do require allocation (more on the latter alternative below).

For an associative container, when inserting many elements, they are not required to be provided in key order (which does not even apply to the unordered associative containers), so there is no reasonable way to reuse the existing storage. Thus, we may as well make a temporary and swap or move-assign, or use clear + insert .

The rest of the answer elaborates on and justifies the above.

The containers of the C++ standard library were derived from the Standard Template Library , primarily developed by Alex Stepanov (with major contributions from others). The Standard Template Library Programmer's Guide has design documents, revision history, a FAQ, and more.

In particular, the STL revision history has an entry related to this question:

Release 3.1: June 9, 1998 This release provides several new features. [...] All sequences now support the resize and assign member functions. [...]

And indeed, STL v3.1 is the first to feature the assign method.

In that version, assign had two overloads. Quoting the comment that precedes them, which is the only other bit of explicit commentary I could find:

This addition was made around the time that the first C++ standard, C++98, was being finished. There was a major effort to revise STL to the C++ committee's satisfaction in order to incorporate it into the standard library, as described at the Wikipedia page on the STL history , which cites the article Al Stevens Interviews Alex Stepanov .

Likely motivation: avoiding allocation

Having failed to find explicit rationale, but now with some additional familiarity with the design principles and history, I can somewhat confidently speculate about the motivation.

A number of STL design decisions are manifestly motivated by the desire to avoid or control the frequency of memory allocation. For example, the vector constructor that takes two iterators has this complexity specification in vector.cons p10 :

Complexity: Makes only N calls to the copy constructor of T (where N is the distance between first and last ) and no reallocations if iterators first and last are of forward, bidirectional, or random access categories. It makes order N calls to the copy constructor of T and order log N reallocations if they are just input iterators.

This focus on arguably low-level concerns (here and elsewhere) is understandable given the historical context of C++ competing primarily with C (not Java or Python, etc.), and developers being reluctant to adopt something that would lock them in to hidden and/or unavoidable performance costs.

This benefit is most apparent for the first overload in the question:

For this operation, creating a new vector object and then assigning it requires at least one allocation and deallocation even when move assignment is available, which it was not in C++98.

Now, the programmer could still avoid allocation by using a combination of clear and insert , but that still involves destroying all of the existing elements and then constructing new ones in place. Depending on the element type, reassigning the existing elements could be much faster, especially if (again) that avoids doing memory allocation (which is the case for, say, a vector of vector s).

Furthermore, it may be this overload that caused the original divergence from the associative container interface, since this operation makes no sense for them.

Having added the above, it is then natural to also have the second overload:

Once again, we can avoid allocation, both in the primary container and potentially within any element containers, by overwriting each element in place. Making a temporary (even with swap or move assignment) and clear + insert are clearly inferior.

This holds true even for list , which can walk the backbone, overwriting elements in turn, without any necessary allocation or deallocation except to accommodate differing sizes.

In contrast, while this operation makes semantic sense for associative containers, the inserted elements are not required to be in an order compatible with the container's organization, so for them, there is no reasonable way to overwrite the existing elements in place. In C++98, clear + insert is no worse than a dedicated assign method, and in C++11, making a temporary and using move assignment is also no worse.

The final overload:

was added in C++11 along with initializer_list . The rationale for being able to overwrite sequence elements in place (and being unable to do so for associative containers) still holds, and it naturally extends the other assign overloads.

Extrapolation for new container design

The end of the question mentions designing a new container and wondering if assign is appropriate. Based on the above, the answer is that it is a potentially useful addition if the container design is such that overwriting elements in place and in order is feasible, and not otherwise.

• Actually, for associative containers, the ability to assign over existing elements is interesting too (for the same reasons). It could be done efficiently even in the absence of a sorted sequence (or "hashed" sequence?), just reusing the existing nodes and incurring the "placement" costs. –  Matthieu M. Commented Aug 5 at 14:43
• @MatthieuM. But how would you know which nodes to put the new values into? –  Scott McPeak Commented Aug 5 at 15:34
• The semantics of assign being that all existing elements are overwritten, why would you care which node is overwritten? Just overwrite the first available, and throw away any remaining nodes at the end of assign. –  Matthieu M. Commented Aug 5 at 17:01
• In a structure like the red-black binary search tree used by typical map implementations, the nodes have to be properly ordered, and the tree as a whole balanced (the "red-black property"). If you just put the new values into the first available nodes, the tree will no longer be ordered or balanced. –  Scott McPeak Commented Aug 5 at 19:22
• Yes, obviously , and in a hash-map the node should be placed according to its hashed. The goal is just to reuse the node allocation, and the allocation of its inner elements. Of course the node then has to be moved to the right place, etc... –  Matthieu M. Commented Aug 6 at 7:35

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged c++ std stdvector stdmap or ask your own question .

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How to cite ChatGPT

Use discount code STYLEBLOG15 for 15% off APA Style print products with free shipping in the United States.

We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test , and we know our roles in a Turing test . And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we’ve spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT . We’ve also been gathering opinions and feedback about the use and citation of ChatGPT. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and shared ideas, opinions, research, and feedback.

In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we’ll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor and student questions. As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers. For more about guidelines and policies about student and author use of ChatGPT, see the last section of this post.

Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper

If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.

Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications , with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.

When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper.

When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Creating a reference to ChatGPT or other AI models and software

The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10). Although here we focus on ChatGPT, because these guidelines are based on the software template, they can be adapted to note the use of other large language models (e.g., Bard), algorithms, and similar software.

The reference and in-text citations for ChatGPT are formatted as follows:

• Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023)
• Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)

Let’s break that reference down and look at the four elements (author, date, title, and source):

Author: The author of the model is OpenAI.

Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.

Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.

The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.

Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.

Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).

Other questions about citing ChatGPT

You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them.

We’ve also received a number of other questions about ChatGPT. Should students be allowed to use it? What guidelines should instructors create for students using AI? Does using AI-generated text constitute plagiarism? Should authors who use ChatGPT credit ChatGPT or OpenAI in their byline? What are the copyright implications ?

On these questions, researchers, editors, instructors, and others are actively debating and creating parameters and guidelines. Many of you have sent us feedback, and we encourage you to continue to do so in the comments below. We will also study the policies and procedures being established by instructors, publishers, and academic institutions, with a goal of creating guidelines that reflect the many real-world applications of AI-generated text.

For questions about manuscript byline credit, plagiarism, and related ChatGPT and AI topics, the APA Style team is seeking the recommendations of APA Journals editors. APA Style guidelines based on those recommendations will be posted on this blog and on the APA Style site later this year.

Update: APA Journals has published policies on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials .

We, the APA Style team humans, appreciate your patience as we navigate these unique challenges and new ways of thinking about how authors, researchers, and students learn, write, and work with new technologies.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

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Assignment Operators In C++

In C++, the assignment operator forms the backbone of many algorithms and computational processes by performing a simple operation like assigning a value to a variable. It is denoted by equal sign ( = ) and provides one of the most basic operations in any programming language that is used to assign some value to the variables in C++ or in other words, it is used to store some kind of information.

The right-hand side value will be assigned to the variable on the left-hand side. The variable and the value should be of the same data type.

The value can be a literal or another variable of the same data type.

Compound Assignment Operators

In C++, the assignment operator can be combined into a single operator with some other operators to perform a combination of two operations in one single statement. These operators are called Compound Assignment Operators. There are 10 compound assignment operators in C++:

• Addition Assignment Operator ( += )
• Subtraction Assignment Operator ( -= )
• Multiplication Assignment Operator ( *= )
• Division Assignment Operator ( /= )
• Modulus Assignment Operator ( %= )
• Bitwise AND Assignment Operator ( &= )
• Bitwise OR Assignment Operator ( |= )
• Bitwise XOR Assignment Operator ( ^= )
• Left Shift Assignment Operator ( <<= )
• Right Shift Assignment Operator ( >>= )

Lets see each of them in detail.

1. Addition Assignment Operator (+=)

In C++, the addition assignment operator (+=) combines the addition operation with the variable assignment allowing you to increment the value of variable by a specified expression in a concise and efficient way.

This above expression is equivalent to the expression:

2. Subtraction Assignment Operator (-=)

The subtraction assignment operator (-=) in C++ enables you to update the value of the variable by subtracting another value from it. This operator is especially useful when you need to perform subtraction and store the result back in the same variable.

3. Multiplication Assignment Operator (*=)

In C++, the multiplication assignment operator (*=) is used to update the value of the variable by multiplying it with another value.

4. Division Assignment Operator (/=)

The division assignment operator divides the variable on the left by the value on the right and assigns the result to the variable on the left.

5. Modulus Assignment Operator (%=)

The modulus assignment operator calculates the remainder when the variable on the left is divided by the value or variable on the right and assigns the result to the variable on the left.

6. Bitwise AND Assignment Operator (&=)

This operator performs a bitwise AND between the variable on the left and the value on the right and assigns the result to the variable on the left.

7. Bitwise OR Assignment Operator (|=)

The bitwise OR assignment operator performs a bitwise OR between the variable on the left and the value or variable on the right and assigns the result to the variable on the left.

8. Bitwise XOR Assignment Operator (^=)

The bitwise XOR assignment operator performs a bitwise XOR between the variable on the left and the value or variable on the right and assigns the result to the variable on the left.

9. Left Shift Assignment Operator (<<=)

The left shift assignment operator shifts the bits of the variable on the left to left by the number of positions specified on the right and assigns the result to the variable on the left.

10. Right Shift Assignment Operator (>>=)

The right shift assignment operator shifts the bits of the variable on the left to the right by a number of positions specified on the right and assigns the result to the variable on the left.

Also, it is important to note that all of the above operators can be overloaded for custom operations with user-defined data types to perform the operations we want.

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