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Bitwise operators

Learn bitwise operations with &, |, ^, ~, << and >>.

Bitwise operators

Bitwise operators work on the binary bits of numbers: & (AND), | (OR), ^ (XOR), ~ (NOT), << (left shift), >> (right shift).

int a = 12;  /* 1100 */
int b = 10;  /* 1010 */
int c = a & b;  /* 1000 = 8 */
int d = a | b;  /* 1110 = 14 */

Bitwise AND gives 1 when both bits are 1. Bitwise OR gives 1 when at least one is 1. These operators are common in hardware and systems programming.

Shift operators

<< shifts bits left (multiplies by 2 each step), >> shifts right (divides by 2 each step).

int a = 5;
int b = a << 1;  /* 10: left 1, 5*2 */
int c = a >> 1;  /* 2: right 1, 5/2 */

Left shift is a fast multiply, right shift a fast divide. Right shift with negative numbers is compiler-dependent; watch for overflow.

Practice Print bitwise operation results

Define int a = 12, b = 10;. With five printf calls print a & b, a | b, a ^ b, a << 1 and a >> 1 on separate lines. Output should be 8, 14, 6, 24, 6.

Starter code

main.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
    int a = 12, b = 10;
    /* print a & b, a | b, a ^ b, a << 1, a >> 1 */
    return 0;
}

Sample solution

main.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
    int a = 12, b = 10;
    printf("%d\n", a & b);
    printf("%d\n", a | b);
    printf("%d\n", a ^ b);
    printf("%d\n", a << 1);
    printf("%d\n", a >> 1);
    return 0;
}

Expected output

8
14
6
24
6

Questions and answers

Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.

1 Bitwise AND operator

Question 
int x = 12 ____ 10;  /* x = 8: bitwise AND */
Answer 
int x = 12 & 10;  /* x = 8: bitwise AND */

Explanation: & is the bitwise AND operator.

2 Match bitwise operators

Term Meaning
& bitwise AND
| bitwise OR
^ bitwise XOR
~ bitwise NOT

3 Which is the bitwise AND operator?

  • & Correct answer
  • &&
  • +
  • and

Explanation: & is bitwise AND; && is logical AND.

All lessons in Beginner

1 C basics

  1. What is C?
  2. Your first program
  3. Compile and run
  4. Comments
  5. printf and escapes
  6. Summary - C basics

2 Variables

  1. Declaring variables
  2. Variable assignment
  3. const
  4. Variable scope
  5. typedef
  6. Summary - Variables

3 Data types

  1. Integer types
  2. Floating-point types
  3. char
  4. sizeof
  5. Type conversion
  6. Summary - Data types

4 Project: Calculator

  1. Project design
  2. Add and subtract
  3. Multiply and divide
  4. Menu loop
  5. Putting it together

5 Operators

  1. Arithmetic operators
  2. Assignment operators
  3. Comparison operators
  4. Logical operators
  5. Bitwise operators
  6. Summary - Operators

6 I/O

  1. printf formatting
  2. scanf
  3. Multiple inputs
  4. getchar and putchar
  5. puts and fputs
  6. Summary - I/O

7 Conditionals

  1. The if statement
  2. else and else if
  3. The switch statement
  4. The ternary operator
  5. Nested conditionals
  6. Summary - Conditionals

8 Loops

  1. The for loop
  2. The while loop
  3. The do-while loop
  4. break and continue
  5. Nested loops
  6. Summary - Loops

9 Project: Shopping cart

  1. Cart design
  2. Adding products
  3. Calculating totals
  4. Listing the cart
  5. Putting it together

10 Arrays

  1. Declaring arrays
  2. Array access
  3. Array size
  4. Multidimensional arrays
  5. Arrays and loops
  6. Summary - Arrays

11 Strings

  1. String basics
  2. String literals
  3. strlen
  4. strcpy and strcat
  5. strcmp
  6. Summary - Strings

12 Functions

  1. Defining functions
  2. Return values
  3. Parameters
  4. Function prototypes
  5. Recursion
  6. Summary - Functions

13 Pointer basics

  1. What is a pointer?
  2. The & address operator
  3. Pointer dereference
  4. NULL
  5. Pointer arithmetic
  6. Summary - Pointer basics

14 Arrays and pointers

  1. Array name as pointer
  2. Pointer to array
  3. Passing arrays to functions
  4. Pointer loop
  5. Multidim array pointer
  6. Summary - Arrays and pointers

15 Project: To-do CLI

  1. Task model
  2. Adding tasks
  3. Listing tasks
  4. Completing tasks
  5. Putting it together

16 String functions

  1. strchr
  2. strstr
  3. strtok
  4. sprintf
  5. sscanf
  6. Summary - String functions

17 Structs

  1. Defining structs
  2. Using structs
  3. typedef struct
  4. Array of structs
  5. Nested structs
  6. Summary - Structs

18 Memory and stack

  1. Stack and heap
  2. Automatic storage
  3. malloc
  4. free
  5. calloc and realloc
  6. Summary - Memory and stack

19 Preprocessor

  1. #define
  2. #include
  3. Conditional compilation
  4. Macro functions
  5. Header files
  6. Summary - Preprocessor

20 Beginner final

  1. Project design
  2. Data model
  3. Functions
  4. Memory management
  5. Putting it together