< character > "=", ASCII character 61.
Common names: ITU-T : equals; gets; takes. Rare: quadrathorpe; INTERCAL : half-mesh.
Equals is used in many languages as the assignment operator though earlier languages used ":=" ("becomes equal to") to avoid upsetting mathematicians with statements such as "x = x+1". It is also used in compounds such as " =", "==", "/=", "!=" for various comparison operators and in C 's "+=", "*=" etc. which mimic the primitive operations of two-address code .
(1995-03-29)