Python Bitwise Operators

There are 6 bitwise operators in Python. The below table provides short details about them.

Let’s look into these operators one by one and understand how they work.

1. Bitwise AND Operator

Python bitwise and operator returns 1 if both the bits are 1, otherwise 0.

>>> 10&7
2
>>> 

2. Bitwise OR Operator

Python bitwise or operator returns 1 if any of the bits is 1. If both the bits are 0, then it returns 0.

>>> 10|7
15
>>> 

3. Bitwise XOR Operator

Python bitwise XOR operator returns 1 if one of the bits is 0 and the other bit is 1. If both the bits are 0 or 1, then it returns 0.

>>> 10^7
13
>>> 

4. Bitwise Ones’ Complement Operator

Python Ones’ complement of a number ‘A’ is equal to -(A+1).

>>> ~10
-11
>>> ~-10
9
>>> 

5. Bitwise Left Shift Operator

Python bitwise left shift operator shifts the left operand bits towards the left side for the given number of times in the right operand. In simple terms, the binary number is appended with 0s at the end.

>>> 10 << 2
40
>>> 

6. Bitwise Right Shift Operator

Python right shift operator is exactly the opposite of the left shift operator. Then left side operand bits are moved towards the right side for the given number of times. In simple terms, the right side bits are removed.

>>> 10 >> 2
2
>>>  

Python supports operator overloading. There are various methods that we can implement to support bitwise operators for our custom objects.

Here is an example of a bitwise operator overloading for our custom object.

class Data:
    id = 0

    def __init__(self, i):
        self.id = i

    def __and__(self, other):
        print('Bitwise AND operator overloaded')
        if isinstance(other, Data):
            return Data(self.id & other.id)
        else:
            raise ValueError('Argument must be object of Data')

    def __or__(self, other):
        print('Bitwise OR operator overloaded')
        if isinstance(other, Data):
            return Data(self.id | other.id)
        else:
            raise ValueError('Argument must be object of Data')

    def __xor__(self, other):
        print('Bitwise XOR operator overloaded')
        if isinstance(other, Data):
            return Data(self.id ^ other.id)
        else:
            raise ValueError('Argument must be object of Data')

    def __lshift__(self, other):
        print('Bitwise Left Shift operator overloaded')
        if isinstance(other, int):
            return Data(self.id << other)
        else:
            raise ValueError('Argument must be integer')

    def __rshift__(self, other):
        print('Bitwise Right Shift operator overloaded')
        if isinstance(other, int):
            return Data(self.id >> other)
        else:
            raise ValueError('Argument must be integer')

    def __invert__(self):
        print('Bitwise Ones Complement operator overloaded')
        return Data(~self.id)

    def __str__(self):
        return f'Data[{self.id}]'


d1 = Data(10)
d2 = Data(7)

print(f'd1&d2 = {d1&d2}')
print(f'd1|d2 = {d1|d2}')
print(f'd1^d2 = {d1^d2}')
print(f'd1<<2 = {d1<<2}')
print(f'd1>>2 = {d1>>2}')
print(f'~d1 = {~d1}')

Output:

Bitwise AND operator overloaded
d1&d2 = Data[2]
Bitwise OR operator overloaded
d1|d2 = Data[15]
Bitwise XOR operator overloaded
d1^d2 = Data[13]
Bitwise Left Shift operator overloaded
d1<<2 = Data[40]
Bitwise Right Shift operator overloaded
d1>>2 = Data[2]
Bitwise Ones Complement operator overloaded
~d1 = Data[-11]

If you are not familiar with the new string formatting, please read f-strings in Python.

Python bitwise operators are mostly used in mathematical calculations. We can implement specific methods to support bitwise operators for our custom class implementations too.