Question

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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