Subtraction

The subtraction operator is the minus sign (-).

Rules:

For the minus sign as an operator in a subtraction operation:

• The minus sign must be preceded or followed by a space so that it will not be mistaken for a hyphen (see example).

• The result value must be greater than or equal to -2³¹ and less than or equal to 2³¹-1.

For the minus sign as a negative sign:

• The minus sign must be preceded by a space.

• The minus sign must be directly followed by the numeric literal or variable name.

Example

/A = -45
/B = -45 - 5
/C = A - B
/D = A-B

All these assignments are syntactically correct: variables A, B and C are assigned integer values (-45, -50, 5) and variable D is assigned the contents of a variable A-B, assuming this variable is declared and initialized. If there is no variable with the name A-B or if it is not initialized, this assignment results in an error.