Bitwise operators

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

Bitwise AND, OR and XOR

Bitwise operators work bit by bit on the binary representation of numbers. & is bitwise AND, | is bitwise OR, and ^ is bitwise XOR (exclusive or).

For example, 5 & 3: 5 = 101, 3 = 011, AND gives 001 = 1. 5 | 3 = 111 = 7. 5 ^ 3 = 110 = 6. These operators are common in flag handling.

Bitwise NOT and shifts

~ is bitwise NOT; it flips every bit. << is left shift, which moves bits left (multiplies the number by a power of two), and >> is right shift, which moves them right (divides by two).

For example, 1 << 3 returns 8: shifting 1 three places left gives 1000. 12 >> 2 = 11 = 3. Shifts are handy for building masks.

Exercise Shift a number right

Shift value right by 2 places (using the >> operator) and assign the result to shifted. Then print shifted with Console.WriteLine.

Show example solution

To shift right, write int shifted = value >> 2; and print it with Console.WriteLine.
Example solution:
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        int value = 12;
        // Shift right and print
        int shifted = value >> 2;
        Console.WriteLine(shifted);
    }
}

Test yourself

Match each operator to its meaning

&

Bitwise AND
|

Bitwise OR
^

Bitwise XOR
~

Bitwise NOT
What is the output of Console.WriteLine(5 & 3);?
```
Console.WriteLine(5 & 3);
```
- 15
- 8
- 1
- 0
Show answer

1 — Correct. 5 (101) and 3 (011) give 001 = 1 with bitwise AND.

Write the right shift operator

int value = 12;
int shifted = value ____ 2;
Console.WriteLine(shifted);

Show answer

int value = 12;
int shifted = value >> 2;
Console.WriteLine(shifted);

Next lesson: Summary - Operators

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