Understanding Shifting Operators in Python

Python, like many other programming languages, provides a set of bitwise operators that allow you to manipulate data at the binary level. Among these operators are the shifting operators, which are used to shift the bits of a number to the left or right. These operators are particularly useful in low-level programming, cryptography, and optimization tasks.

In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into the two shifting operators in Python:

1. Left Shift Operator (<<)
2. Right Shift Operator (>>)

1. What Are Shifting Operators?

Shifting operators are used to move the bits of a binary number to the left or right. This operation effectively multiplies or divides the number by powers of 2, depending on the direction of the shift.

• Left Shift (<<): Shifts the bits of a number to the left and fills the vacant positions with 0. This is equivalent to multiplying the number by (2^n), where (n) is the number of positions shifted.

• Right Shift (>>): Shifts the bits of a number to the right and fills the vacant positions based on the sign bit (for signed integers). This is equivalent to dividing the number by (2^n), where (n) is the number of positions shifted.

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