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You will learn about the following in this chapter:
Operators
~ & ^ >> &= = ^= >>= =
In this chapter, you review binary, octal, and hexadecimal number notations. Then you learn about two C facilities for handling the individual bits in a value: bitwise operators and bit fields.
With C, you can manipulate the individual bits in a variable. Perhaps you are wondering why anyone would want to. Be assured that sometimes this ability is necessary, or at least useful. For example, a hardware device is often controlled by sending it a byte in which each bit has a particular meaning. Also, operating system information about files is often stored by using particular bits to indicate particular items.
We'll investigate C's bit powers in this chapter after we supply you with some background about bits, bytes, binary notation, and other number bases.
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