What does <- mean in Java?

Question

I ran across this example and realized i don't fully understand what's going on here

if (a <- b) {
    return false;
}

What is <- in Java?

was there spacing in the example you saw or was it just `a<-b`? in other words, is it bad formatting or intentional confusing? and was it in live code? just curious :) — Denis Tulskiy, May 14 '13 at 17:21

score 27 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:55

27

See it in this way:

if (a < -b) {
    return false;
}

There is no <- operator in java.

Related, I've just found this question: What is the "-->" operator in C++?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:55

Community

answered May 14 '13 at 16:59

Alberto Zaccagni

@Jam: yet strangely enough no one upvoted the question. it is a valid very interesting question, imo. – Denis Tulskiy May 15 '13 at 06:22

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered May 14 '13 at 17:04

4

There is no such operator in java. This means

if (a < -b) {

}

which is same as

if (a < -         b) {

}

The - sign need not be just by b.

For int types one could do

if (a <-- b) {

}

which will be same as

if (a < --b) {

}

answered May 14 '13 at 17:04

fastcodejava

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 14 '13 at 17:12

0

This kind of stuff is possible.but there is no <- operator in java.it can be -b

int a=4; int b=-5;

if(a<-b){
    System.out.println("ela");
}

answered May 14 '13 at 17:12

Sanjaya Liyanage

3 Answers3