Bitwise Pt. 2

Left shift (<<) Operator

• First operand << Second operand

• First operand : whose bits get shifted

• Second operand : Decides the number of places to shift the bits

Important Points

1. When bits are shifted left then trailing positions are filled with zeros.

int main() {
  // char = 1 byte = 8 bits
  char var = 3; // Note : 3 in binary = 0000 0011
  printf("%d", var << 1); // Result : 0000 0110 = 6
  return 0;
}

2. Left shifting is equivalent to multiplication by 2 power of rightOperand

Example:

var = 3
var << 1    Output: 6 [3 x 2¹]
var << 4    Output: 48 [3 x 2⁴]

Right shift (>>) Operator

• First operand >> Second operand

• First operand : whose bits get shifted

• Second operand : Decides the number of places to shift the bits

Important Points

1. When bits are shifted right then leading positions are filled with zeros.

int main() {
  char var = 3; // Note : 3 in binary = 0000 0011
  printf("%d", var >> 1); // Result : 0000 0001 = 1
  return 0;
}

2. Right shifting is equivalent to division by 2 power of rightOperand

Example:

var = 3;
var >> 1    Output: 1 [3 / 2¹]    (decimal points are eliminated)

var = 32;
var >> 4    Output: 2 [32 / 2⁴]