What function does the ^ (caret) operator serve in Java?
When I try this:
int a = 5^n;
...it gives me:
for n = 5, returns 0
for n = 4, returns 1
for n = 6, returns 3
...so I guess it doesn't perform exponentiation. But what is it then?
19 Answers
The ^ operator in Java
^ in Java is the exclusive-or ("xor") operator.
Let's take 5^6 as example:
(decimal) (binary)
5 = 101
6 = 110
------------------ xor
3 = 011
This the truth table for bitwise (JLS 15.22.1) and logical (JLS 15.22.2) xor:
^ | 0 1 ^ | F T
--+----- --+-----
0 | 0 1 F | F T
1 | 1 0 T | T F
More simply, you can also think of xor as "this or that, but not both!".
See also
