What are bitwise shift operations in Python?

What are bitwise shift operations in Python?

Bitwise shift operations in Python are used to shift the bits of an integer left or right. They are represented by '<<' for left shift and '>>' for right shift.

Can you give me an example of a left shift operation?

Sure! If you have the integer 5 (which is 101 in binary) and you perform a left shift by 1 (5 << 1), the result will be 10 (which is 1010 in binary).

What about a right shift operation?

For a right shift, if you take the integer 8 (which is 1000 in binary) and perform a right shift by 1 (8 >> 1), the result will be 4 (which is 100 in binary).

Are there any practical uses for these operations?

Yes, bitwise shifts are often used in low-level programming, graphics, and performance optimization tasks, such as multiplying or dividing by powers of two.