Go Assignment Operators: = vs. := — When to Use Which?

Assignment Operators in Go: = vs. :=

In Go programming, the = and := operators are used for assignment. However, they differ in their capabilities and use cases.

= Operator

The = operator assigns a value to an existing variable. It does not declare a new variable but instead updates the value of an existing one. For example:

var foo int = 10
foo = 20

In this example, the variable foo is first declared with the value 10, and then its value is updated to 20 using the = operator.

:= Operator

The := operator is a shorthand for declaring a new variable and assigning it a value in a single statement. It is widely used for assigning values to variables within functions or for creating local variables within a block. For example:

func main() {
    bar := 20
}

In this example, the variable bar is declared and assigned the value 20 using the := operator. This is equivalent to the following code:

func main() {
    var bar int
    bar = 20
}

Use Cases

• =: Use it to assign values to existing variables or update the values of existing variables.
• :=: Use it to declare and initialize new variables simultaneously. It is especially useful within functions and blocks where you need to create local variables.

In summary, the = operator performs simple assignment, while the := operator combines declaration and assignment into a single statement. Understanding the distinction between these operators is crucial for effective Go programming.

The above is the detailed content of Go Assignment Operators: = vs. := — When to Use Which?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!