C Basics - Bitwise Operators in C

The following table shows all the bitwise operators supported by the C language. Assume variable x holds 21, y holds 10 and variable z holds 0 then.

Operator Name	Syntax	Description	Example
Bitwise AND	x & y	Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands.	z = x & y; z = 0
Bitwise OR	x | y	Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand.	z = x | y; z = 31
Bitwise XOR	x ^ y	Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both.	z = x ^ y; z = 31
Bitwise NOT	~x	Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' bits.	z = ~x; z = -22
Bitwise left shift	x << y	Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	z = x << 2; z = 84
Bitwise right shift	x >> y	Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	z = x >> 2; z = 5

#include <stdio.h>

int main() 
{
 int x = 21;
 int y = 10;
 int z = 0;
 
 printf("Bitwise operators demo\n");
 printf("Value of x is %d\n", x );
     printf("Value of y is %d\n", y );
 printf("Value of z is %d\n", z );
 
 z = x & y;
 printf("Bitwise AND (z = x & y): %d\n", z );
 
 z = x | y;
 printf("Bitwise OR (z = x | y): %d\n", z );
 
 z = x ^ y;
 printf("Bitwise XOR (z = x ^ y): %d\n", z );
 
 z = ~x ;
 printf("Bitwise NOT (z = ~x): %d\n", z );
 
 z = x << 2;
 printf("Bitwise left shift (z = x << 2): %d\n", z );
 
 z = x >> 2;
 printf("Bitwise right shift (z = x >> 2): %d\n", z );
    return 0;
}

The output of the above program would be:

Bitwise operators demo
Value of x is 21
Value of y is 10
Value of z is 0
Bitwise AND (z = x & y): 0
Bitwise OR (z = x | y): 31
Bitwise XOR (z = x ^ y): 31
Bitwise NOT (z = ~x): -22
Bitwise left shift (z = x << 2): 84
Bitwise right shift (z = x >> 2): 5

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Related topics:
Overview of Operators in C   |   Arithmetic Operators in C   |   Relational Operators in C   |   Logical Operators in C   |   Compound Assignment Operators in C   |   Conditional Operators in C   |   Miscellaneous Operators in C   |   Operator Precedence and Associativity in C

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List of topics: C Programming

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