=
Equals Sign
- Unicode
- U+003D
- Category
- Math
- HTML Entity
- =
- CSS
- \003D
The equals sign (=) says that both sides have the same value (2 + 3 = 5). The Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde introduced it in 1557, choosing two parallel lines of the same length because "no two things can be more equal". Struck through it becomes the not-equal sign ≠, and together with < and > it forms ≤ and ≥, which plain text approximates as <= and >=. In informal writing = also means "means" or "leads to" (rain = no picnic).
On US and UK keyboards = has its own key left of Backspace; with Shift the same key gives +. On iPhone it is on the #+= page, on Android on the =\< page.
On US and UK keyboards = has its own key left of Backspace; with Shift the same key gives +. On iPhone it is on the #+= page, on Android on the =\< page.
How to Type
- Windows
- = key (left of Backspace) · Alt+61
- macOS
- = key (left of Delete)
- Linux
- = key · Ctrl+Shift+U 3d
- HTML
- =
In Programming
In most languages a single = assigns (x = 5), so comparison needs == — or === for strict comparison in JavaScript and PHP — and writing = where == was meant is a classic C bug. SQL is the exception where a single = compares, and Pascal assigns with :=. Spreadsheet formulas start with = (=SUM(A1:A9)), URLs and INI files pair keys with values (?id=5, key=value), and => writes arrow functions in JavaScript and array keys in PHP.
Tags
equals sign
equal sign
equal symbol
equality
alt 61
assignment operator
keyboard symbol
math symbols
ascii