How to fix Python SyntaxError: cannot assign to function call

Python shows SyntaxError: cannot assign to function call error when you assign a value to the result of a function call.

Here’s an example code that triggers this error:

def add(a, b):
    return a + b


result = add(3, 4)
add(3, 4) = 5  # ❌ SyntaxError

In the code above, the number 5 is assigned to the result of calling the add() function.

Python responds with the error below:

    add(3, 4) = 5
    ^^^^^^^^^
SyntaxError: cannot assign to function call here. 
Maybe you meant '==' instead of '='?

In Python, a function call is an expression that returns a value. It cannot be used as the target of an assignment.

To fix this error, you need to avoid assigning a value to a function call result.

When you want to declare a variable, you need to specify the variable name on the left side of the operator and the value on the right side of the operator:

# Assign value 5 to the variable x
x = 5

You can also assign the function call result to a variable as follows:

x = add(3, 4)
print(x)  # 7

If you want to compare the result of a function call to a value, you need to use the equality comparison operator ==.

The following code example is valid because it checks whether the result of add() function equals to 5:

# Checks whether add(3, 4) equals to 5
x = 5
add(3, 4) == x  # ✅

A single equal operator = assigns the right side of the operator to the left side, while double equals == compares if the left side is equal to the right side.

You can even assign the result of the comparison to a variable like this:

result = add(3, 4) == x  # ✅
print(result)  # False

Finally, you can also encounter this error when working with Python iterable objects (like a list, dict, or tuple)

You can’t reassign or compare a list element as long as you used the parentheses as shown below:

numbers = [1, 2, 3]

numbers(2) = 5  # ❌ SyntaxError
numbers(2) == 5  # ❌ TypeError

When you use parentheses with the equality comparison operator, Python responds with TypeError: 'list' object is not callable.

Whether you want to reassign or compare a list element, you need to use the square brackets like this:

numbers = [1, 2, 3]

numbers[2] = 5  # ✅

print(numbers)  # [1, 2, 5] 

print(numbers[2] == 5)  # True

And that’s how you fix Python SyntaxError: cannot assign to function call error.

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