using content_acess & acl to grant permissions in code

Hi. In D6 version, one could grant permissions in code by doing something like this:

$settings = array('ops' => array('view', 'update'));
$account = user_load($user->uid);
content_access_action_acl_grant_access($node, $account, $settings);

This was used for granting access to a node based on various criteria e.g. user, role, etc.

Please what is the D7 equivalent for doing something similar? I could not find relevant documentation. Thanks.