What does ^ mean in C language?

In C language, ^ is the exclusive OR (XOR) operator, which acts on two operands bitwise. For each bit, if both bits are 0 or both are 1, the result bit is 0; if one bit is 0 and the other bit is 1, the result bit is 1. Applications of the XOR operator include setting or clearing bits, swapping variables, checking parity, encryption, and bit masking operations.

The ^ symbol in C language

What is it?

In C language, ^ is the exclusive OR (XOR) operator.

How does it work?

The XOR operator acts on two operands and evaluates them bitwise. For each bit, if both bits are 0 or both are 1, the resulting bit is 0; if one bit is 0 and the other is 1, the resulting bit is 1.

Example

<code class="c">int a = 10; // 0b1010
int b = 15; // 0b1111
int result = a ^ b; // 0b0101</code>

In this case, the result is 5.

Applications

The XOR operator has many applications, including:

• Set or clear a bit:Pass XORed with 1, a specific bit can be set or cleared.
• Exchange variables: Using XOR to exchange the values ​​of two variables without temporary variables.
• Check parity: Perform XOR operation on a number. If the result is 0, then the number is even; otherwise, it is odd.
• Encryption: XOR operation is used in some simple encryption algorithms.
• Bit masks: Bit masks can be operated on using the XOR operator to set or clear specific bits.

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