Shift and Append: << and >> operators in Ruby

Bitwise left shift operator (<<)

The bitwise left shift operator in Ruby shifts each bit of an integer by n position to the left.

As a general convention, << in Ruby means "append" which implies it appends its argument to its receiver before returning the receiver. So, for Array, it appends the argument to the array, and for string, it concatenates strings.

Syntax

number << shifts                                               

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Parameters

number: The number whose bits we wish to change is this one.

Shifts: number of positions to shift the bits of number to the right.

Return value

An integer is returned as a result. It's the same as a number that's been shifted right by shifts.

Example

So the result of the operation 7 << 2 is 28.

# For integers it means bitwise left shift: 

5 << 1 # gives 10

17 << 3 # gives 136

#For arrays and strings, it means append: 

"hello, " << "world" # gives "hello, 

world" [1, 2, 3] << 4 # gives [1, 2, 3, 4]

Let’s make this operation in Ruby

Program

# shift some bits of numbers
puts 5 << 1
puts 7 << 2
puts 8 << 2
puts 5 << 3

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Output

10
28
32
40

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Read about Bitwise Operators in C here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Ruby's |= stand for?

It's short for or-equals-to. It first checks whether the value on the left is defined, after which it uses it. If it isn't, use the right-hand value.

In Ruby, what is a lambda?

A lambda is a Ruby object that is comparable to a proc. A lambda, unlike a proc, requires a fixed number of arguments to be supplied to it, and instead of returning immediately, it returns s to its calling procedure.

In Ruby, what is self?

self is a unique variable that refers to the object that "owns" the code that is now running.

In Ruby, what is yield?

Yield is a Ruby keyword that allows a developer to give an argument to a block. The amount of arguments that can be passed to the block is unlimited.

Conclusion

This article extensively discussed Shift and Append i.e., << and >> operators in Ruby.

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