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Bitwise Operators

Medium

In plain terms

Bitwise operators work on 32-bit integers: & (AND), | (OR), ^ (XOR), ~ (NOT), << (left shift), >> (signed right shift), >>> (unsigned right shift). Used for low-level operations.

What you need to know

  • &, |, ^, ~, <<, >>, >>>
  • Operands converted to 32-bit integers
  • Useful for flags, permissions

Try it yourself

Copy the code below and run it in your browser console or a code editor:

5 & 1;   // 1 (0101 & 0001)
5 | 1;   // 5 (0101 | 0001)
5 ^ 1;   // 4 (XOR)
~5;      // -6 (bitwise NOT)

8 << 1;  // 16 (multiply by 2)
8 >> 1;  // 4 (divide by 2)

// Check if even
(6 & 1) === 0;  // true

Learn more

Dive deeper with these trusted resources: