---
title: do not assign to itself
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Static Code Analysis (SAST) > SAST
  Rules > do not assign to itself
---

# do not assign to itself

{% callout %}
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{% alert level="danger" %}
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{% /callout %}

## Metadata{% #metadata %}

**ID:** `python-best-practices/self-assignment`

**Language:** Python

**Severity:** Notice

**Category:** Best Practices

## Description{% #description %}

Do not assign a value to itself. Instead, assign the value to a different variable to make the data flow clear to read and understand.

## Non-Compliant Code Examples{% #non-compliant-code-examples %}

```python
def foo():
	bar = bar  # avoid self assignment
```

## Compliant Code Examples{% #compliant-code-examples %}

```python
def foo():
	bar = baz
```
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