rightassociative

Right-associative describes a property of binary operators in formal grammars, programming languages, and mathematics where an expression with multiple occurrences of the operator groups to the right. Specifically, a op b op c is interpreted as a op (b op c) rather than (a op b) op c. This contrasts with left-associative, where grouping is to the left.

Exponentiation is a classic right-associative operator in both mathematics and many programming languages. For example, 2^3^2 is interpreted as 2^(3^2) = 512, not (2^3)^2 = 64. Some languages implement exponentiation with a right-associative operator token, such as Python's ** and most mathematical conventions.

Assignments are often right-associative: in languages like C, C++, Java, JavaScript, and Python, a = b = c assigns c to b, then the result to a, effectively a = (b = c). This property allows chained assignments to be written concisely.

In parsing, associativity affects the structure of the parse tree and the order of evaluation, but parentheses can override default associativity. For example, (2^3)^2 forces left grouping, yielding 64, whereas 2^3^2 yields 512 by default right associativity.

Right associativity is one of several conventions used to define how expressions are evaluated.