What do << or >>> in java mean? [duplicate]

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What does >> and >>> mean in Java?

I ran across some unfamiliar symbols in some java code, and while the code compiles and functions correctly, I am confused as to what exactly the angle brackets are doing in this code. I found the code in com.sun.java.help.search.BitBuffer, a fragment of which is below:

public void append(int source, int kBits)     {         if (kBits < _avail)         {             _word = (_word << kBits) | source;             _avail -= kBits;         }         else if (kBits > _avail)         {             int leftover = kBits - _avail;             store((_word << _avail) | (source >>> leftover));             _word = source;             _avail = NBits - leftover;         }         else         {             store((_word << kBits) | source);             _word = 0;             _avail = NBits;         }     } 

What do those mysterious looking brackets do? It almost looks like c++ insertion/extraction, but I know that Java doesn't have anything like that.

Also, I tried googling it, but for some reason Google seems to not see the angle brackets, even if I put them in quotes.

Answer 1

They are Bitwise Bit shift operators, they operate by shifting the number of bits being specified . Here is tutorial on how to use them.

The signed left shift operator "<<" shifts a bit pattern to the left

The signed right shift operator ">>" shifts a bit pattern to the right.

The unsigned right shift operator ">>>" shifts a zero into the leftmost position

Answer 2

straight from ORACLE DOC.

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.