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Right Shift Operator (>>) in C++

Overview:

The right shift operator (>>) is a bitwise operator in C++ that shifts the bits of a value to the right by a specified number of positions. This operation is equivalent to dividing the value by 2 raised to the power of the specified number.

Syntax:

result = value >> numberOfPositions;

Example:

int x = 16;    // Binary representation: 0001 0000
int result = x >> 2;  // Shifting 2 positions to the right

// After the operation, result = 4
// Binary representation: 0000 0100

Left Shift Operator (<<) in C++

Overview:

The left shift operator (<<) is a bitwise operator in C++ that shifts the bits of a value to the left by a specified number of positions. This operation is equivalent to multiplying the value by 2 raised to the power of the specified number.

Syntax:

result = value << numberOfPositions;

Example:

int y = 2;    // Binary representation: 0000 0010
int result = y << 3;  // Shifting 3 positions to the left

// After the operation, result = 16
// Binary representation: 0001 0000

Applications:

Right Shift Operator (>>):

  1. Division by Powers of 2: It can be used as a faster alternative to integer division by powers of 2.

  2. Bitwise Operations: It's commonly used in bitwise operations to extract or modify specific bits in a value.

Left Shift Operator (<<):

  1. Multiplication by Powers of 2: It can be used as a faster alternative to integer multiplication by powers of 2.

  2. Bitwise Operations: Similar to the right shift operator, it's used in bitwise operations to set or clear specific bits.

Important Notes:

  • When shifting bits to the right, the leftmost bits are filled with the sign bit (0 for positive numbers, 1 for negative numbers in two's complement representation).
  • When shifting bits to the left, the rightmost bits are filled with zeros.