Bitwise Operations
Bitwise operations are low-level programming techniques that manipulate individual bits within binary representations of data, such as integers. They include operations like AND, OR, XOR, NOT, and bit shifts, which are performed directly on the bit patterns. These operations are fundamental in systems programming, embedded development, and performance-critical applications for tasks like flag management, data compression, and hardware control.
Developers should learn bitwise operations when working on performance-sensitive code, embedded systems, or applications requiring fine-grained control over data, such as network protocols, cryptography, or graphics programming. They are essential for optimizing memory usage and execution speed, as they allow direct manipulation of bits without higher-level abstractions, making them crucial in low-level languages like C, C++, and assembly.