In any programming language, operators carry out manipulations and operations on the operands, variables, etc. In C language or C++ language, Bitwise operators work at the bit level and serve the purpose of manipulations and operations on the Bits.
Process:
- Bitwise operators perform operations on integers at a bit level.
- The input (integer) gets converted to binary form after which the operations on the binary value are performed.
- After the manipulations, the binary value obtained gets converted back to the integer format and gets displayed as a result.
Types of Bitwise Operators in C and C++
| Operator | Function |
|---|---|
| Bitwise AND Operator (&) | The operator returns 1, if both the operand’s bits are 1. |
| Bitwise OR Operator (|) | The operator returns 1, if either of the operand’s bits are 1. |
| Bitwise XOR Operator (^) | The operator returns 1, if both the operand’s bits are opposite to each other, else it returns 0. |
| Bitwise 1’s Complement Operator (~) | This operator inverts all the bits of the operand. |
| Bitwise Left Shift Operator (<<) | This operator shifts the bits to left by an offset provided by the user. |
| Bitwise Right Shift Operator (>>) | This operator shifts the bits to right by an offset provided by the user. |
1. Bitwise AND Operator
The operator results 1 as output if both the bits are 1, else it results to 0.
Syntax:
operand1 & operand2
Example:
5 (Decimal) = 00000101 (Binary)
4 (Decimal) = 00000100
5 & 4 = 00000101 & 00000100 = 00000100 = 4
Result: 5 & 4 = 4
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num1 = 5, num2 = 4;
int result = num1&num2;
printf("num1 & num2 = %d", result);
return 0;
}
Output:
num1 & num2 = 4
2. Bitwise OR Operator
The operator results 1 as output if any of the bits are 1, else it results to 0.
Syntax:
operand1 | operand2
Example:
5 (Decimal) = 00000101 (Binary)
4 (Decimal) = 00000100 (Binary)
5 | 4 = 00000101 | 00000100 = 00000101 = 5
Result: 5 | 4 = 00000101 = 5
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num1 = 5, num2 = 4;
int result = num1|num2;
printf("num1 | num2 = %d", result);
return 0;
}
Output:
num1 | num2 = 5
3. Bitwise XOR Operator
The operator results 1 as output if both the bits are different/opposite to each other, else it results to 0.
Syntax:
operand1 ^ operand2
Example:
5 (Decimal) = 00000101 (Binary)
4 (Decimal) = 00000100 (Binary)
5 ^ 4 = 00000101 ^ 00000100 = 00000001 = 1
Result: 5 ^ 4 = 00000001 = 1
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num1 = 5, num2 = 4;
int result = num1^num2;
printf("num1 ^ num2 = %d", result);
return 0;
}
Output:
num1 ^ num2 = 1
4. Bitwise Left Shift Operator
This operator shifts the bits of the input to the left by the provided offset value and fill the void spaces as 0 in the result.
It is equivalent to multiplying a number by pow(2, offset) i.e. multiplying by 2 raised to the power of offset.
Syntax:
operand << offset
Example:
5 (Decimal) = 00000101 (Binary)
5 << 2 = 20
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num = 5;
int result = num << 2;
printf("num << 2 = %d", result);
return 0;
}
Output:
num << 2 = 20
5. Bitwise Right Shift Operator
This operator shifts the bits of the input to the right by the provided offset value and fills the void spaces as 0 in the result.
It is equivalent to dividing a number by pow(2, offset) i.e. dividing by 2 raised to the power of offset.
Syntax:
operand >> offset
Example:
5 (Decimal) = 00000101 (Binary)
5 >> 1 = 2
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num = 5;
int result = num >> 1;
printf("num >> 1 = %d", result);
return 0;
}
Output:
num >> 1 = 2
6. Bitwise 1’s Complement Operator
This operator performs 1’s complement on the input. It inverts the bits of the input.
Bitwise complement of input integer (x) will be – (x+1).
Syntax:
~(operand)
Example:
input = 5 (Decimal) = 00000101 (Binary)
~ input = ~ (00000101) = – (000000101 + 1) = – ( 00000110) = – 6
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num = 5;
int result = ~(num);
printf("~num = %d", result);
return 0;
}
Output:
~num = -6
Conclusion
Thus, in this article, we have understood the basic functionality served by the Bitwise Operators of C/C++.