What does ":=" do?

I've seen := used in several code samples, but never with an accompanying explanation. It's not exactly possible to google its use without knowing the proper name for it.

What does it do?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equals_sign#In_computer_programming

In computer programming languages, the equals sign typically denotes either a boolean operator to test equality of values (e.g. as in Pascal or Eiffel), which is consistent with the symbol's usage in mathematics, or an assignment operator (e.g. as in C-like languages). Languages making the former choice often use a colon-equals (:=) or ≔ to denote their assignment operator. Languages making the latter choice often use a double equals sign (==) to denote their boolean equality operator.

Note: I found this by searching for colon equals operator

It's the assignment operator in Pascal and is often used in proofs and pseudo-code. It's the same thing as = in C-dialect languages.

Historically, computer science papers used = for equality comparisons and ← for assignments. Pascal used := to stand in for the hard-to-type left arrow. C went a different direction and instead decided on the = and == operators.

In the statically typed language Go := is initialization and assignment in one step. It is done to allow for interpreted-like creation of variables in a compiled language.

// Creates and assigns
answer := 42

// Creates and assigns
var answer = 42

Another interpretation from outside the world of programming languages comes from Wolfram Mathworld, et al:

If A and B are equal by definition (i.e., A is defined as B), then this is written symbolically as A=B, A:=B, or sometimes A≜B.

■ http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Defined.html

■ https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/182101/appropriate-notation-equiv-versus