Bitwise operators are an important feature of the C programming language that allow programmers to manipulate individual bits of data. They are used to perform logical operations on individual bits of a binary value. This article will provide an overview of bitwise operators in C and demonstrate their usage through example code.

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What are the bitwise operators in C?

In C programming, bitwise operators are used to perform bitwise operations on two operands. These operators operate on individual bits of the operands and produce a result that is also in the form of binary values. The following bitwise operators are available in C:

Bitwise AND (&)
Bitwise OR (|)
Bitwise XOR (^)
Bitwise NOT (~)
Left shift (<<)
Right shift (>>)

Let’s now dive into each of these bitwise operators with example code.

Bitwise AND ( & )

The bitwise AND operator compares the bits of two operands and returns a value that has a bit set only if both operands have that bit set. In other words, it performs a logical AND operation on each corresponding pair of bits. Here is an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
   int a = 14; // 00001110
   int b = 10; // 00001010
   int c = a & b; // 00001010
   printf("%d", c); // Output: 10
   return 0;
}

Bitwise OR ( | )

The bitwise OR operator compares the bits of two operands and returns a value that has a bit set if either of the operands has that bit set. In other words, it performs a logical OR operation on each corresponding pair of bits. Here is an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
   int a = 14; // 00001110
   int b = 10; // 00001010
   int c = a | b; // 00001110
   printf("%d", c); // Output: 14
   return 0;
}

Bitwise XOR ( ^ )

The bitwise XOR operator compares the bits of two operands and returns a value that has a bit set only if one of the operands has that bit set. In other words, it performs a logical XOR operation on each corresponding pair of bits. Here is an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
   int a = 14; // 00001110
   int b = 10; // 00001010
   int c = a ^ b; // 00000100
   printf("%d", c); // Output: 4
   return 0;
}

Bitwise NOT ( ~ )

The bitwise NOT operator performs a one’s complement operation on its operand, which means it inverts all the bits of the operand. Here is an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
   int a = 14; // 00001110
   int b = ~a; // 11110001
   printf("%d", b); // Output: -15
   return 0;
}

Left shift ( << )

The left shift operator shifts the bits of its left operand to the left by the number of positions specified in the right operand. Here is an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
   int a = 14; // 00001110
   int b = a << 2; // 00111000
   printf("%d", b); // Output: 56
   return 0;
}

Right shift ( >> )

The right shift operator shifts the bits of its left operand to the right by the number of positions specified in the right operand. If the left operand is an unsigned integer, then the right shift operator fills the shifted positions with zeros. However, if the left operand is a signed integer, then the right shift operator fills the shifted positions with the sign bit, which is the leftmost bit that indicates the sign of the number. Here is an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
   int a = -14; // 11110010
   int b = a >> 2; // 11111100
   printf("%d", b); // Output: -4
   return 0;
}

Bitwise operators are often used in low-level programming such as in device drivers and embedded systems programming where memory and processing power are limited. They can be used to optimize code and reduce memory usage.

Conclusion on Bitwise Operators in C

Bitwise operators are an important feature of C programming that allows programmers to manipulate individual bits of data. They include the bitwise AND (&), bitwise OR (|), bitwise XOR (^), bitwise NOT (~), left shift (<<), and right shift (>>). Understanding and using these operators can greatly improve the efficiency and performance of your C code.