Bitwise functions, also known as bitwise operators, are a set of operators that manipulate individual bits of binary values at the bit level. These functions operate on integers or binary values and perform bitwise operations such as AND, OR, XOR, shift, and complement. Bitwise functions are commonly used in programming and data manipulation to perform low-level operations on binary data.
Here are some commonly used bitwise functions:
1. Bitwise AND (&): Performs a bitwise AND operation between two binary values. It compares each corresponding pair of bits and returns 1 only if both bits are 1.
2. Bitwise OR (|): Performs a bitwise OR operation between two binary values. It compares each corresponding pair of bits and returns 1 if either bit is 1.
3. Bitwise XOR (^): Performs a bitwise XOR (exclusive OR) operation between two binary values. It compares each corresponding pair of bits and returns 1 if the bits are different (one bit is 0 and the other is 1).
4. Bitwise NOT (~): Performs a bitwise complement operation on a binary value. It flips each bit, changing 1 to 0 and 0 to 1.
5. Bitwise Shift Operators (<>): Perform bitwise left shift (<>) operations. They shift the bits of a binary value to the left or right by a specified number of positions.
Bitwise functions are primarily used in scenarios where bitwise operations are required, such as low-level system programming, network protocols, data compression algorithms, cryptography, and optimization techniques. They allow developers to manipulate individual bits within binary data efficiently and perform complex operations at the binary level.
