Bitwise Operators

Common Bitwise Operators:

• Bitwise AND (&): Returns 1 only if both corresponding bits are 1.

  • Example: 5 (101) & 3 (011) = 1 (001)

• Bitwise OR (|): Returns 1 if at least one corresponding bit is 1.

  • Example: 5 (101) | 3 (011) = 7 (111)

• Bitwise XOR (^): Returns 1 if corresponding bits are different.

  • Example: 5 (101) ^ 3 (011) = 6 (110)

• Bitwise NOT (~): Inverts each bit (0 becomes 1, 1 becomes 0).

  • Example: ~5 (101) = 10 (010)

• Left Shift (<<): Shifts bits left by specified number, zeros fill in on the right.

  • Example: 5 (101) << 1 = 10 (110)

• Right Shift (>>): Shifts bits right by specified number, behavior varies depending on language/signedness.

  • Example: 5 (101) >> 1 = 2 (010) (unsigned), -3 (110) (signed)

• & 0xFF ignores all other bits except for the byte at the end, so 101010111111010 & 0xFF = 11111010