How Does Go's `&^` Operator Perform a Bitwise AND NOT Operation?

Understanding the "&^" Operator in Go: The Bitwise AND NOT

In the Go programming language, the "&^" operator represents a bitwise AND NOT operation. This operator is used to clear specific bits in a binary number by applying a bitwise AND operation between the input value and the bitwise NOT of another value.

Operator Description

In simpler terms, the "&^" operator takes two integer inputs, x and y. It performs a bitwise AND operation between x and the bitwise NOT of y (~y). This operation results in a new value where bits in x that correspond to set bits in ~y are cleared, while the remaining bits in x are left unchanged.

C Equivalent

In the C programming language, the equivalent operation to Go's "&^" operator is x & ~y. This expression performs the same bitwise AND NOT operation, where ~y represents the bitwise NOT of y.

Practical Application

The bitwise AND NOT operation is commonly used to clear certain bits in a binary value. For example, consider the following operation:

x &amp;^ (1 << 3)

Here, the goal is to clear the third bit from the right in x. To achieve this, the bitwise NOT of (1 << 3) is calculated, which results in all bits set to zero except the third bit from the right. This value is then used to perform a bitwise AND operation with x, effectively clearing the third bit in x.

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