Bitwise operators

Bitwise operators are used for performing operations on binary numbers. They operate bit by bit, hence the name. Here are the basic bitwise operators:

1. Bitwise AND (&): This operator compares each bit of the first operand to the corresponding bit of the second operand. If both bits are 1, the corresponding result bit is set to 1. Otherwise, the corresponding result bit is set to 0.

2. Bitwise OR (|): This operator compares each bit of the first operand to the corresponding bit of the second operand. If either bit is 1, the corresponding result bit is set to 1. Otherwise, the corresponding result bit is set to 0.

3. Bitwise XOR (^): This operator compares each bit of the first operand to the corresponding bit of the second operand. If the bits are not the same, the corresponding result bit is set to 1. Otherwise, the corresponding result bit is set to 0.

4. Bitwise NOT (~): This operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits. The ones become zeros and the zeros become ones.

5. Left shift (<<): This operator shifts the bits of the number to the left and fills 0 on voids left as a result. The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand.

6. Right shift (>>): This operator shifts the bits of the number to the right and fills 0 on voids left as a result. The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand.

These operators are commonly used in low-level programming such as device drivers, low-level graphics, cryptography, and network protocol packet assembly.