Bitwise Operators in C Practice Questions with Solutions

Introduction

Bitwise operators work directly on the individual bits of integer values. They are useful for low-level programming, embedded systems, device control, flags, permissions, and performance-sensitive operations. In this chapter, you will practice the main bitwise operators in C: AND (&), OR (|), XOR (^), NOT (~), left shift (<<), and right shift (>>). The examples start with simple binary operations and gradually move toward practical bit manipulation. Bitwise Operators in C Practice questions with solutions to help you understand the concepts.

Q1. Use the Bitwise AND Operator

Problem Statement

Write a C program to perform a bitwise AND operation on two integers.

Use:

12 &amp; 10

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int a = 12;
    int b = 10;
    int result;

    result = a & b;

    printf("Result = %d", result);

    return 0;
}

How It Works

The binary values are:

Binary 1000 is decimal 8.

Sample Output

Result = 8

Concepts Covered

Bitwise AND
&
Binary representation
Integer bit manipulation

Q2. Use the Bitwise OR Operator

Problem Statement

Write a C program to perform a bitwise OR operation on 12 and 10.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int a = 12;
    int b = 10;
    int result;

    result = a | b;

    printf("Result = %d", result);

    return 0;
}

How It Works

Binary 1110 is decimal 14.

Sample Output

Result = 14

Concepts Covered

Bitwise OR
|
Binary values
Bit manipulation

Q3. Use the Bitwise XOR Operator

Problem Statement

Write a C program to perform a bitwise XOR operation on 12 and 10.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int a = 12;
    int b = 10;
    int result;

    result = a ^ b;

    printf("Result = %d", result);

    return 0;
}

How It Works

XOR produces 1 when the corresponding bits are different.

Binary 0110 is decimal 6.

Sample Output

Result = 6

Concepts Covered

Bitwise XOR
^
Binary comparison
Bit manipulation

Q4. Use the Bitwise NOT Operator

Problem Statement

Write a C program to apply the bitwise NOT operator to an integer.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    unsigned int number = 5;

    printf("Number = %u\n", number);
    printf("After NOT = %u", ~number);

    return 0;
}

Sample Output

The exact decimal result depends on the width of unsigned int. On a typical 32-bit unsigned int implementation:

Number = 5
After NOT = 4294967290

How It Works

The bitwise NOT operator ~ flips every bit:

5 = 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000101
~5 = 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111010

Concepts Covered

Bitwise NOT
~
Bit inversion
unsigned int

Q5. Use the Left Shift Operator

Problem Statement

Write a C program to shift the bits of the number 5 two positions to the left.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int number = 5;
    int result;

    result = number << 2;

    printf("Result = %d", result);

    return 0;
}

How It Works

5 = 00000101

Shift left by two positions:

00000101 &lt;&lt; 2
= 00010100

Binary 00010100 is decimal 20.

Sample Output

Result = 20

Concepts Covered

Left shift
<<
Bit movement
Binary representation

Q6. Use the Right Shift Operator

Problem Statement

Write a C program to shift the bits of the number 20 two positions to the right.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    unsigned int number = 20;
    unsigned int result;

    result = number >> 2;

    printf("Result = %u", result);

    return 0;
}

How It Works

20 = 00010100

Shift right by two positions:

00010100 >> 2
= 00000101

Binary 00000101 is decimal 5.

Sample Output

Result = 5

Concepts Covered

Right shift
>>
Bit movement
Binary representation

Q7. Check Whether a Number Is Odd or Even Using Bitwise AND

Problem Statement

Write a C program to check whether a number is odd or even using the bitwise AND operator.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int number = 27;

    if (number & 1)
    {
        printf("%d is odd.", number);
    }
    else
    {
        printf("%d is even.", number);
    }

    return 0;
}

Sample Output

27 is odd.

How It Works

The last bit of an integer is 1 for odd numbers and 0 for even numbers.

For 27:

The result is 1, so the number is odd.

Concepts Covered

Bitwise AND
&
Odd/even checking
Binary representation
if-else

Q8. Set a Specific Bit Using Bitwise OR

Problem Statement

Write a C program to set the third bit of a number using the bitwise OR operator.

Consider the bit positions starting from 0 on the right.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    unsigned int number = 8;

    number = number | (1u << 2);

    printf("Result = %u", number);

    return 0;
}

How It Works

The number is:

8 = 1000

The mask for bit position 2 is:

1 &lt;&lt; 2 = 0100

Now:

1000
0100
----
1100

Binary 1100 is decimal 12.

Sample Output

Result = 12

Concepts Covered

Bitwise OR
|
Left shift
Bit mask
Setting a bit

Q9. Clear a Specific Bit Using Bitwise AND and NOT

Problem Statement

Write a C program to clear bit position 2 of the number 12.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    unsigned int number = 12;

    number = number & ~(1u << 2);

    printf("Result = %u", number);

    return 0;
}

How It Works

Initially:

12 = 1100

Bit position 2 is:

1100
  ^

Create the mask:

1 &lt;&lt; 2 = 0100

Invert it:

~0100

For the relevant four bits:

Then:

1100
1011
----
1000

Binary 1000 is decimal 8.

Sample Output

Result = 8

Concepts Covered

Bitwise AND
Bitwise NOT
Left shift
Bit mask
Clearing a bit

Q10. Create a Program to Check, Set, and Clear a Bit

Problem Statement

Create a program that demonstrates three common bit-manipulation operations:

Check whether bit position 2 is set.
Set bit position 2.
Clear bit position 2.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    unsigned int number = 8;
    unsigned int mask = 1u << 2;

    printf("Original number = %u\n", number);

    if (number & mask)
    {
        printf("Bit 2 is set.\n");
    }
    else
    {
        printf("Bit 2 is not set.\n");
    }

    number = number | mask;
    printf("After setting bit 2 = %u\n", number);

    number = number & ~mask;
    printf("After clearing bit 2 = %u", number);

    return 0;
}

Sample Output

Original number = 8
Bit 2 is set.
After setting bit 2 = 12
After clearing bit 2 = 8

Concepts Covered

Bitwise AND
Bitwise OR
Bitwise NOT
Left shift
Bit masks
Checking a bit
Setting a bit
Clearing a bit

Bitwise Operators Quick Reference

Operator	Name	Example	Purpose
`&`	Bitwise AND	`a & b`	AND corresponding bits
`	`	Bitwise OR	`a \| b`
`^`	Bitwise XOR	`a ^ b`	XOR corresponding bits
`~`	Bitwise NOT	`~a`	Invert every bit
`<<`	Left Shift	`a << 2`	Shift bits left
`>>`	Right Shift	`a >> 2`	Shift bits right

Bitwise AND, OR and XOR Truth Table

A	B	A & B	A \| B	A ^ B
0	0	0	0	0
0	1	0	1	1
1	0	0	1	1
1	1	1	1	0

Bit Positions

Bit positions are normally counted from right to left, starting at 0.

For example:

Number = 13

Binary:
1 1 0 1
| | | |
3 2 1 0   ← bit positions

Therefore:

Bit 0 = 1
Bit 1 = 0
Bit 2 = 1
Bit 3 = 1

This numbering becomes especially useful when working with bit masks.

Key Takeaways

Bitwise operators work on individual bits of integer operands mean in c.
& performs bitwise AND.
| performs bitwise OR.
^ performs bitwise XOR.
~ flips every bit of its operand.
<< shifts bits toward higher bit positions.
>> shifts bits toward lower bit positions.
Bitwise AND with 1 can be used to check the least significant bit.
Bit masks are commonly created using expressions such as 1u << n.
OR can be used to set a bit.
AND with an inverted mask can be used to clear a bit.
Bitwise operations in c are different from logical operations such as && and ||.
Bit shifting should be used carefully because the behavior of some shifts depends on the type and value of the operand.

FAQs

1. What are bitwise operators in C?

Bitwise operators perform operations on the individual bits of integer values.

For example:

int result = 12 & 10;

2. What is the difference between `&` and `&&`?

& is the bitwise AND operator and operates on individual bits.

&& is the logical AND operator and evaluates logical conditions.

For example:

5 &amp; 3

performs bitwise manipulation, while:

5 > 2 && 8 > 4

performs a logical operation.

3. What does the XOR operator `^` do?

XOR produces 1 when the corresponding bits are different and 0 when they are the same.

1010
1100
----
0110

4. What does `~` do in C?

The ~ operator performs a bitwise complement. It changes every 0 bit to 1 and every 1 bit to 0.

The exact numeric result depends on the type and its representation.

5. What does `<<` mean in C?

<< is the left-shift operator. It shifts the bits of its left operand toward higher bit positions.

For example:

int result = 5 << 2;

On typical implementations, this produces 20 because the binary representation of 5 is shifted two places to the left.

6. What does `>>` mean in C?

>> is the right-shift operator. It shifts bits toward lower bit positions. For unsigned integers, zero bits are shifted into the left side.

7. Why are bitwise operators used in C?

Bitwise operators are useful when working with hardware, embedded systems, device registers, bit flags, masks, permissions, and other situations where individual bits need to be manipulated.

Written by Shubhranshu Shekhar, who has trained 20000+ students in coding.

Rishabh Kumar

Introduction

Q1. Use the Bitwise AND Operator

Problem Statement

C Program

How It Works

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Q2. Use the Bitwise OR Operator

Problem Statement

C Program

How It Works

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Q3. Use the Bitwise XOR Operator

Problem Statement

C Program

How It Works

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Q4. Use the Bitwise NOT Operator

Problem Statement

C Program

Sample Output

How It Works

Concepts Covered

Q5. Use the Left Shift Operator

Problem Statement

C Program

How It Works

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Q6. Use the Right Shift Operator

Problem Statement

C Program

How It Works

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Q7. Check Whether a Number Is Odd or Even Using Bitwise AND

Problem Statement

C Program

Sample Output

How It Works

Concepts Covered

Q8. Set a Specific Bit Using Bitwise OR

Problem Statement

C Program

How It Works

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Q9. Clear a Specific Bit Using Bitwise AND and NOT

Problem Statement

C Program

How It Works

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Q10. Create a Program to Check, Set, and Clear a Bit

Problem Statement

C Program

Sample Output

Concepts Covered

Bitwise Operators Quick Reference

Bitwise AND, OR and XOR Truth Table

Bit Positions

Key Takeaways

FAQs

1. What are bitwise operators in C?

2. What is the difference between & and &&?

3. What does the XOR operator ^ do?

4. What does ~ do in C?

5. What does << mean in C?

6. What does >> mean in C?

7. Why are bitwise operators used in C?

Related Posts

2. What is the difference between `&` and `&&`?

3. What does the XOR operator `^` do?

4. What does `~` do in C?

5. What does `<<` mean in C?

6. What does `>>` mean in C?