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= Operator (Visual Basic)

Assigns a value to a variable or property.

variableorproperty = value

Parts

  • variableorproperty
    Any writable variable or any property.

  • value
    Any literal, constant, or expression.

Remarks

The element on the left side of the equal sign (=) can be a simple scalar variable, a property, or an element of an array. The variable or property cannot be ReadOnly (Visual Basic). The = operator assigns the value on its right to the variable or property on its left.

Note

The = operator is also used as a comparison operator. For details, see Comparison Operators (Visual Basic).

Overloading

The = operator can be overloaded only as a relational comparison operator, not as an assignment operator. For more information, see Operator Procedures (Visual Basic).

Example

The following example demonstrates the assignment operator. The value on the right is assigned to the variable on the left.

Dim testInt As Integer 
Dim testString As String 
Dim testButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Dim testObject As Object
testInt = 42
testString = "This is an example of a string literal."
testButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button()
testObject = testInt
testObject = testString
testObject = testButton

See Also

Reference

&= Operator (Visual Basic)

*= Operator (Visual Basic)

+= Operator (Visual Basic)

-= Operator (Visual Basic)

/= Operator (Visual Basic)

\= Operator

^= Operator (Visual Basic)

Comparison Operators (Visual Basic)

ReadOnly (Visual Basic)

Concepts

Local Type Inference (Visual Basic)

Other Resources

Statements in Visual Basic