I've seen in a lot of AI related stuff the symbol <-. For example,
delta <- 0
x <- x + 1
etc.
I always assume its meaning is the same as =(assigment), but probably they have a meaning that's a bit different from assigment, I assume?
Thanks
+2
A:
Nope, that's pretty much it, you're correct in your assumption that it's a basic assignment.
In particular it means "assign value 0 to delta" and "assign value x+1 to x" in your samples.
Mark E
2010-01-24 04:04:19
Then why don't they use = like the rest of the world?
devoured elysium
2010-01-24 04:05:52
@devoured elysium: Some languages use `:=` for assignment, others allow both `<-` or `=`, e.g.: https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-help/2009-February/189314.html
Adam Bernier
2010-01-24 04:10:31
@devoured, because '=' to the rest of the world (other than a few deranged computer geeks) means equality, not assignment :-)
paxdiablo
2010-01-24 04:10:39
@devoured: Not all the rest of the world uses `=`. To a mathematician, the statement `x = x + 1` looks very wrong. Languages derived from Algol use `:=` for assignment.
Greg Hewgill
2010-01-24 04:11:23
+8
A:
It's assignment. It removes ambiguity that the "=" symbol adds, because that symbol is often overloaded to test equality.
It makes it very clear that the thing on the left is being assigned the thing on the right, rather than being matched, unified, or otherwise made equal to it.
Eli
2010-01-24 04:11:24