Double Greater Than Sign (>>) in Java?

Question

What does the >> sign mean in Java? I had never seen it used before but came across it today. I tried searching for it on Google, but didn't find anything useful.

Answer 1

The >> operator is the bitwise right shift operator.

Simple example:

int i = 4; System.out.println(i >> 1); // prints 2 - since shift right is equal to divide by 2 System.out.println(i << 1); // prints 8 - since shift left is equal to multiply by 2 

Negative numbers behave the same:

int i = -4; System.out.println(i >> 1); // prints -2 System.out.println(i << 1); // prints -8 

Generally speaking - i << k is equivalent to i*(2^k), while i >> k is equivalent to i/(2^k).

In all cases (just as with any other arithmetic operator), you should always make sure you do not overflow your data type.

Answer 2

This is the bit shift operator. Documentation

The signed left shift operator "<<" shifts a bit pattern to the left, and the signed right shift operator ">>" shifts a bit pattern to the right. The bit pattern is given by the left-hand operand, and the number of positions to shift by the right-hand operand. The unsigned right shift operator ">>>" shifts a zero into the leftmost position, while the leftmost position after ">>" depends on sign extension.