Bitwise Operators in Python

Bitwise operators are used to perform operations on individual bits of integer values. They manipulate the bits directly and are often used in low-level programming, cryptography, and performance-critical applications. Python supports several bitwise operators, which operate on integers as their operands.

List of Bitwise Operators

Examples of Bitwise Operators

1. Bitwise AND (&)

The & operator compares each bit of two integers. If both bits are 1, the resulting bit is 1; otherwise, it's 0.

a = 5      # In binary: 0101
b = 3      # In binary: 0011
result = a & b  # Result: 0001 (1 in decimal)
print(result)  # Output: 1

2. Bitwise OR (|)

The | operator compares each bit of two integers. If at least one of the bits is 1, the resulting bit is 1.

a = 5      # In binary: 0101
b = 3      # In binary: 0011
result = a | b  # Result: 0111 (7 in decimal)
print(result)  # Output: 7

3. Bitwise XOR (^)

The ^ operator compares each bit of two integers. If the bits are different, the resulting bit is 1; if they are the same, it's 0.

a = 5      # In binary: 0101
b = 3      # In binary: 0011
result = a ^ b  # Result: 0110 (6 in decimal)
print(result)  # Output: 6

4. Bitwise NOT (~)

The ~ operator inverts the bits of its operand. It changes 1 to 0 and 0 to 1.

a = 5      # In binary: 0101
result = ~a  # Result: 1010 (in binary, representing -6 in two's complement)
print(result)  # Output: -6

5. Left Shift (<<)

The << operator shifts the bits of the left operand to the left by the number of positions specified by the right operand. This effectively multiplies the number by 2 for each shift.

a = 5      # In binary: 0101
result = a << 1  # Result: 1010 (10 in decimal)
print(result)  # Output: 10

result = a << 2  # Result: 010100 (20 in decimal)
print(result)  # Output: 20

6. Right Shift (>>)

The >> operator shifts the bits of the left operand to the right by the number of positions specified by the right operand. This effectively divides the number by 2 for each shift.

a = 20     # In binary: 10100
result = a >> 1  # Result: 01010 (10 in decimal)
print(result)  # Output: 10

result = a >> 2  # Result: 00101 (5 in decimal)
print(result)  # Output: 5

Summary of Bitwise Operators:

• &: Bitwise AND. Returns a bit set to 1 only if both corresponding bits are 1.
• |: Bitwise OR. Returns a bit set to 1 if at least one corresponding bit is 1.
• ^: Bitwise XOR. Returns a bit set to 1 if corresponding bits are different.
• ~: Bitwise NOT. Inverts all bits.
• <<: Left shift. Shifts bits to the left, effectively multiplying by 2.
• >>: Right shift. Shifts bits to the right, effectively dividing by 2.

Bitwise operators are useful for tasks that involve binary manipulation, such as low-level programming, network protocols, and image processing.