Bitwise operations in JavaScript
JavaScript provides us with bitwise operators to perform bit manipulation operations on numbers.
Steps involved
While carrying out bitwise operations, the interpreter performs a sequence of steps.
Below we can see the steps listed in the order that is followed.
Convert to binary: When a bitwise operation is performed, the operands are converted to their equivalent 32-bit signed binary integer.
Operator result: After the conversion, the bitwise operation is performed, and a 32-bit result is produced.
Convert back: The result value is then converted to its equivalent value and returned by the operator.
Types of bitwise operators
Below is a table that shows JavaScript's different types of bitwise operators.
Operator | Description |
& | AND |
| | OR |
~ | NOT |
^ | XOR |
<< | Left shift |
>> | Right shift |
>>> | Unsigned right shift |
Code example
Below is a JavaScript application showing how the different bitwise operators work.
In the application, we provide two numbers, num1 and num2. We perform all the operations listed in the table above on these numbers.
const num1 = 15const num2 = 8const num1b = num1.toString(2)const num2b = num2.toString(2)const and = num1 & num2console.log("AND Operation: ")console.log(num1 + " & " + num2 + " = " + num1b + " & " + num2b + " = " + and.toString(2) + " = " + and)console.log("\n")const or = num1 | num2console.log("OR Operation: ")console.log(num1 + " | " + num2 + " = " + num1b + " | " + num2b + " = " + or.toString(2) + " = " + or)console.log("\n")const xor = num1 ^ num2console.log("XOR Operation: ")console.log(num1 + " ^ " + num2 + " = " + num1b + " ^ " + num2b + " = " + xor.toString(2) + " = " + xor)console.log("\n")const not = ~num2console.log("NOT Operation: ")console.log("~" + num2 + " = " + "~" + num2b + " = " + not.toString(2) + " = " + not)console.log("\n")const leftShift = num2 << 1console.log("Left Shift Operation: ")console.log(num2 + " << " + 1 + " = " + num2b + " << " + 1 + " = " + leftShift.toString(2) + " = " + leftShift)console.log("\n")const rightShift = num2 >> 1console.log("Right Shift Operation: ")console.log(num2 + " >> " + 1 + " = " + num2b + " >> " + 1 + " = " + rightShift.toString(2) + " = " + rightShift)console.log("\n")const rightShiftUnsigned = num2 >>> 1console.log("Unsigned Right Shift Operation: ")console.log(num2 + " >>> " + 1 + " = " + num2b + " >>> " + 1 + " = " + rightShiftUnsigned.toString(2) + " = " + rightShiftUnsigned)console.log("\n")
Code explanation
Lines 1–2: We initialize the two numbers
num1andnum2on which we are to perform bitwise operations.Lines 4–5: The numbers are converted to binary strings using the
toString()function by passing the argument2.Lines 7–10: Perform the AND (
&) operation onnum1andnum2, and display the result.Lines 12–15: Perform the OR (
|) operation onnum1andnum2, and display the result.Lines 17–20: Perform the XOR (
^) operation onnum1andnum2, and display the result.Lines 22–25: Perform the NOT (
~) operation onnum2, and display the result.Lines 27–30: Perform the left shift (
<<) operation onnum2with a shift value of1and show the result.Lines 32–35: Perform the right shift (
>>) operation onnum2with a shift value of1and show the result.Lines 37–40: Perform the unsigned right shift (
>>>) operation onnum2with a shift value of1and show the result.
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