ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Bitwise operation

Bitwise operations help the computer do something kind of like math to numbers, but a little different. It helps the computer compare two numbers that are made out of lots of 0s and 1s.

When you have numbers written as 0s and 1s it is called binary. Computers can only understand binary, so they need bitwise operations to help.

When you do a bitwise operation on two binary numbers, what it does is look at each 0 and 1 in the same spot in both numbers and compare them. If there is a 0 and a 1 in the same spot, it will be a 0 in that spot in the final answer. If both numbers have a 0 or a 1 in the same spot, then it will be a 0 or a 1 in the same spot in the final answer.

Bitwise operations are really helpful for computers, because it helps them compare two numbers and give an answer really quickly!