What Does the Go '&^' Bit Clear Operator Do?

What is the "&^" Operator in Go?

Unlike many other operators, "AND NOT" is not a term that yields tangible results when searched online. This operator is denoted by the symbol "&^" and raises questions about its functionality and how it might translate into other languages like C.

In the Go specification, "&^" is briefly described as a "bit clear" operator. This description hints at its primary use case. When applied to two operands, "&^" performs the following operations:

1. Bitwise NOT: The ~ operator is applied to the second operand, effectively inverting each of its bits (0s become 1s and vice versa).
2. Bit Clear: The result of the ~ operation is then combined with the first operand using the & operator. This operation clears the specific bits in the first operand that correspond to the 1s in the inverted second operand, effectively turning them off.

In C, the equivalent of the Go expression x &^ y would be x & ~y. This expression explicitly performs the bitwise NOT operation on y using ~y and then applies the bit clear operation using &.

Consider the following example:

In this case, the bitwise NOT operation is applied to y, yielding 0b11110101. The bit clear operation then combines this inverted value with x, clearing the 1s in x that correspond to the 1s in the inverted y (in this case, the 1 in the fourth position). As a result, the result retains the original bits of x except for the bit that has been cleared, creating a new value of 0b11110010.

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