Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operators work on the tiny on-off switches inside a number, like flipping single light switches in a long row. They are useful for packing settings together compactly.
In this page:
Syntax
int result = a & b; // AND
int result = a | b; // OR
int result = a ^ b; // XOR
int result = ~a; // NOT
int result = a << n; // shift left
int result = a >> n; // shift rightBitwise Operators
Bitwise operators (&, |, ^, ~, <<, >>) operate directly on the binary representation of integers. & and | perform AND/OR on each bit, ^ is XOR, <</>> shift bits left or right.
They're common in flags, masks, and low-level performance code.
Note:
x << 1 doubles an integer, and x >> 1 halves it (for non-negative numbers).Example: Bitwise Operators
using System;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
int a = 6; // 110
int b = 3; // 011
Console.WriteLine(a & b); // 010 = 2
Console.WriteLine(a | b); // 111 = 7
Console.WriteLine(a ^ b); // 101 = 5
Console.WriteLine(a << 1); // 1100 = 12
Console.WriteLine(a >> 1); // 011 = 3
}
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Related Topics
{# common_mistakes/chapter_summary/browser_support: on Hindi pages the
view already swaps in the hi_ translation fields (or blanks these
out if untranslated), so this renders correctly for both languages
without a lang_code check here. #}
Common Mistakes
- Using
&when you meant&&, and getting a bitwise result on numbers instead of a bool. - Shifting by a number of bits larger than the type size, which wraps the shift count.
- Forgetting that
~flips every bit, so~5is -6 for anint.
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