What is the difference between bitwise and arithmetic operations in Python?

What is the difference between bitwise and arithmetic operations in Python?

Bitwise operations manipulate individual bits of integers, while arithmetic operations perform standard mathematical calculations.

Can you give me examples of both types of operations?

Sure! For bitwise, a & b performs a bitwise AND, and for arithmetic, a + b adds two numbers.

When would I use bitwise operations instead of arithmetic?

Bitwise operations are useful for low-level programming, such as manipulating flags or optimizing performance in certain algorithms.

Are there any performance differences between the two?

Yes, bitwise operations are generally faster than arithmetic operations because they operate directly on the binary representation of numbers.