What does % mean in code next to variable?

Question

Let's say x=29 and y=13. What does this line of code actually do:

x%=y-3;

I just don't really know what does this mean?

Its the modulus operator: [https://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/modulus.html](https://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/modulus.html) — drescherjm, Nov 01 '19 at 11:22
`x %= y - 3` is the same thing as `x = x % (y - 3)`. For the rest see the duplicate — Jabberwocky, Nov 01 '19 at 11:23
The `%` is not a variable postfix; it is a prefix to `=`. It is a short way to do `x = x % (y - 3);`. `%` means modulo. — CoderCharmander, Nov 01 '19 at 11:24
This is worth a re-open. OP is asking about `%=`, which has different properties to plain old `%`. Also prefer the term *remainder operator*? — Bathsheba, Nov 01 '19 at 11:33

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 01 '19 at 11:45

1

Modulo operator gives you remainder from division.

a % b is the remainder of division a by b

x %= y - 3 is equal to x = x % (y - 3) and gives you remainder from division x by (y - 3) expression.

answered Nov 01 '19 at 11:45

Grzegorz Małyska

OP should do their homework but as you already posted an answer it would be good IMO to describe the difference between modulus and the remainder when negative arguments are used. For example, `10 % -3` would give 1 in C but would give -2 in Python. – Arkadiusz Drabczyk Nov 02 '19 at 19:53

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