Bitwise & vs Logical && Operators in Java

source : www.scaler.com

In Java, understanding the difference between bitwise & and logical && operators is crucial for writing efficient and correct code. These operators, while sometimes appearing similar, serve different purposes and are used in different contexts. This article provides a comprehensive explanation of both operators, along with ample code examples to illustrate their usage.

Bitwise & Operator

Definition

The bitwise & (AND) operator performs a binary AND operation between corresponding bits of two integers. Each bit in the result is set to 1 if and only if the corresponding bits in both operands are 1.

Syntax

int result = a & b;

Example

public class BitwiseANDExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int a = 5;  // binary: 0101
        int b = 3;  // binary: 0011
        int result = a & b; // result: 0001 (decimal: 1)
        System.out.println("Bitwise AND of " + a + " and " + b + " is " + result);
    }
}

Explanation

In the example above:

• 5 in binary is 0101
• 3 in binary is 0011
• Performing 0101 & 0011 results in 0001 (binary), which is 1 in decimal.