Bitwise Operators

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anjar.bra
Published Jul 24, 2021Updated Oct 17, 2024
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Bitwise operators in JavaScript perform operations on binary representations of integers. They manipulate bits directly using AND, OR, XOR, NOT, shifts, etc.

JavaScript uses the following bitwise operators:

Operator Name Description
& AND If both bits are 1, result is 1; otherwise 0.
| OR If either bit is 1, result is 1; otherwise 0.
^ XOR If bits are different, result is 1; otherwise 0.
~ NOT If bit is 0, result is 1; otherwise 0.
<< Zero fill left shift Pushes zeros in from right, leftmost bits fall off.
>> Signed right shift Pushes copies of leftmost bit in from left, rightmost bit falls off (preserves sign).
>>> Zero fill right shift Pushes zeros in from left, rightmost bits fall off.

AND

The AND (&) operator performs a bitwise AND on two numbers. The result is 1 only when both bits are 1:

console.log(19 & 7); // Output: 3


// 10011 = 19
// 00111 =  7
// 00011 =  3

OR

The OR (|) operator performs a bitwise OR on two numbers. The result is 1 if either of the bits is 1:

console.log(19 | 7); // Output: 23


// 10011 = 19
// 00111 =  7
// 10111 = 23

XOR

The XOR (^) operator performs a bitwise XOR on two numbers. The result is 1 if the bits are different:

console.log(19 ^ 7); // Output: 20


// 10011 = 19
// 00111 =  7
// 10100 = 20

NOT

Because integers are stored in two’s complement (to change the sign, the binary digits are first inverted and then 1 is added), a NOT (~) operation will change the sign of the number and change the absolute value by one:

console.log(~19); // Output: -20


// 00000000000000000000000000010011 =  19
// 11111111111111111111111111101100 = -20

Zero Fill Left Shift

The zero fill left shift (<<) operator shifts the bits of a number to the left, pushing zeros in from the right. The leftmost bits fall off and are discarded:

console.log(19 << 3); // Output: 152


// 00000000000000000000000000010011 =  19
// 00000000000000000000000010011000 = 152


console.log(5 << 2); // Output: 20


// 00000000000000000000000000000101 = 5
// 00000000000000000000000000010100 = 20

Signed Right Shift

The signed right shift (>>) operator shifts the bits of a number to the right, pushing zeros in from the left. The rightmost bits fall off and are discarded:

console.log(19 >> 3); // Output: 2


// 00000000000000000000000000010011 =  19
// 00000000000000000000000000000010 =   2


console.log(-20 >> 3); // Output: -3


// 11111111111111111111111111101100 = -20
// 11111111111111111111111111111101 =  -3

Zero Fill Right Shift

The zero fill right shift (>>>) operator does not preserve the sign. It pushes zeros in from the left, pushing the sign bit out of its leftmost position:

console.log(19 >>> 3); // Output: 2


// 00000000000000000000000000010011 =  19
// 00000000000000000000000000000010 =   2


console.log(-20 >>> 3); // Output: 536870909


// 11111111111111111111111111101100 = -20
// 00011111111111111111111111111101 = 536870909

Codebyte Examples

Execute the following to illustrate the use of Bitwise & operator:

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Execute the following to illustrate the use of Bitwise | operator:


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Execute the following to illustrate the use of Bitwise ^ operator:


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Execute the following to illustrate the use of Bitwise ~ operator:


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Execute the following to illustrate the use of Bitwise << operator:


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Execute the following to illustrate the use of Bitwise >> operator:


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Execute the following to illustrate the use of Bitwise >>> operator:


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