Below are interactive examples of Javascript bitwise functions. Code in the first box is interpreted and the results are displayed in the second box.
Prefacing a string of binary digits with 0B or 0b denotes a binary number. Javascript will convert the number to integer format.
Javascript will normally output numbers in decimal format. Use toString(2) to get the binary format. parseInt can convert the string back into binary.
The AND operator (&) compares two numbers and returns a new number with 1's where corresponding bits in both of the inputs are also 1.
The OR operator (|) compares two numbers and returns a new number with 1's where corresponding bits in either of the inputs are also 1.
The XOR (exclusive OR) operator (^) compares two numbers and returns a new number with 1's where corresponding bits in either (but not both) of the inputs are 1.
The NOT operator (~) works on a single number and inverts the bits. Becuase of the way that Javascript represents signed integers, this has the effect adding 1 to the operand and negating it.
A left shift (<<) returns a new number with all of the bits in the operand shifted to the right a given number of places. The rightmost bits are dropped and the leftmost bits are filled with 0s.
A right shift (>>) returns a new number with all of the bits in the operand shifted to the right a given number of places. The rightmost bits are dropped and the leftmost bits are filled with 1s.
A right shift (>>>) returns a new number with all of the bits in the operand shifted to the right a given number of places. The rightmost bits are dropped and the leftmost bits are filled with 0s.