Bitwise operators

Bitwise operators

The bitwise operators allow you to manipulate individual bits in an integral primitive data type. Bitwise operators perform boolean algebra on the corresponding bits in the two arguments to produce the result.

The bitwise operators come from C's low-level orientation; you were often manipulating hardware directly and had to set the bits in hardware registers. Java was originally designed to be embedded in TV set-top boxes, so this low-level orientation still made sense. However, you probably won't use the bitwise operators much.

The bitwise AND operator (&) produces a one in the output bit if both input bits are one; otherwise it produces a zero. The bitwise OR operator (|) produces a one in the output bit if either input bit is a one and produces a zero only if both input bits are zero. The bitwise, EXCLUSIVE OR, or XOR (^), produces a one in the output bit if one or the other input bit is a one, but not both. The bitwise NOT (~, also called the ones complement operator) is a unary operator; it takes only one argument. (All other bitwise operators are binary operators.) Bitwise NOT produces the opposite of the input bit - a one if the input bit is zero, a zero if the input bit is one.

The bitwise operators and logical operators use the same characters, so it is helpful to have a mnemonic device to help you remember the meanings: since bits are "small," there is only one character in the bitwise operators.

Bitwise operators can be combined with the = sign to unite the operation and assignment: &=, |= and ^= are all legitimate. (Since ~ is a unary operator it cannot be combined with the = sign.)

The boolean type is treated as a one-bit value so it is somewhat different. You can perform a bitwise AND, OR and XOR, but you can't perform a bitwise NOT (presumably to prevent confusion with the logical NOT). For booleans the bitwise operators have the same effect as the logical operators except that they do not short circuit. Also, the bitwise operators on booleans gives you a XOR logical operator that is not included under the list of "logical" operators. You're prevented from using booleans in shift expressions, which is described next.