Bitwise operator " | "

[Ls chin]

Can anyone please explain what is a Bitwise operator which looks like "|"? I've read the online Java Tutorial and a few books but I still don't quite understand it.

For e.g. how do we know the bitwise value of 5 or 7? Do we hv to memorize it?

I've also seen SCJP question that looks like this:

int i = 1;
int j = i++;
 if ((i == ++j) | (i++ ==j)) {
 i += j
}

Will the (++j) and/or the (i++) inside the "if" condition execute before (i += j)?

Thank you in advance.

[chen owen]

Hi LS chin,
maybe you don't know the difference with "|" and "||" .

if ((i == ++j) | (i++ ==j)) 

"i==++j" will execute at first and "i++==j" will execute later.

if ((i == ++j) || (i++ ==j)) 

"i==++j" will execute at first , and
if that is true , "i++==j" will execute ,
if thst is false , "i++==j" won't execute .
chenchen.

[Ls chin]

Originally posted by chen owen:
"i==++j" will execute at first and "i++==j" will execute later.

Hi owen,

Thanks for your reply. Yea, I'm a bit confused by "|" and "||". With the "|" operator, it means that (i++ == j) will continue to execute, even if (i == ++j) value is false? So, it doesn't matter whether the right-side or the left-side value is true or false, both sides will execute?

[Kaydell Leavitt]

Here is a URL to wikipedia.org on the binary number system and binary operations:
Binary numeral system (http://www.wikipedia.org

The following URL to simple.wikipedia.org is under construction and anybody can improve it:
Binary numeral system (simple.wikipedia.org)
[ August 06, 2008: Message edited by: Kaydell Leavitt ]

[chen owen]

hi LS chin:
yeah , you are right ! You can take a test to prove it .

[Ls chin]

Hi Owen,
I tested the code by replacing the value of (i = 3) and the output shows that the right-side of "|" will execute even if the left-side is true. But for the "||" operator, it will short-circuit and will skip the right-side equation, therefore (i++ == j) will be ignored. Thanks!

Hi Kaydell,
Thanks for the links.

[ August 06, 2008: Message edited by: LS chin ]

[ August 06, 2008: Message edited by: LS chin ]
[ August 06, 2008: Message edited by: LS chin ]

[Rob Spoor]

Please note that in your example, | is not a bitwise operator but a logical OR operator. Whether | is one or the other depends on the argument type - if they are boolean it's logical, if they're numerical (not float or double) it's bitwise, any other case is a compile error.

[Ls chin]

Hi Rob,

Thanks! In the example, "|" is a logical operator which does not short-circuit.