Arizona State University (ASU) CSE100 Principles of Programming with C++ Midterm 1 Practice Exam

In C++, the symbol '==' is used to check for value equality between two operands. When you use '==', you are asking whether the values on the left and right sides of the operator are the same. It's a comparison operator that returns a boolean result: true if the values are equal and false if they are not. For example, if you have two variables, x and y, and you use the expression x == y, it evaluates to true if both x and y hold the same value.

On the other hand, the '=' symbol is the assignment operator. It is used to assign a value to a variable. For instance, if you write x = 5, you are stating that x should now hold the value 5. The assignment operator does not compare values; instead, it alters the state of the variable involved.

Understanding this distinction is crucial for writing correct and logical C++ code, as mixing these two operators can lead to errors in program logic. Thus, the choice that states '==' checks value equality and '=' is for variable assignment accurately captures their roles in the C++ programming language.