bitwise operators

JavaScript bitwise operators (&, |, ^, ~, <<, >>, >>>) work on numbers, just like arithmetic operators (+, -, /, *) do. But whereas arithmetic operators work on the actual values of numbers, bitwise operators work on their binary representations. Bitwise operators treat their operands as a set of bits (zeros and ones) rather than as decimal, hexadecimal, or octal numbers. Although the operators act upon binary representations of the operands, they return standard JavaScript numerical values.

See also: bit, binary