What does left shift (<<) do?

What does left shift (<<) do?

• A. Shifts bits to the right
• B. Flips all bits
• C. Adds 1 to every bit
• D. Shifts bits to the left

Answer: (D)

Left shift moves each bit in a binary value toward the more significant side by the specified amount. As bits move left, those that go past the left edge are discarded and zeros fill in on the right. This is like multiplying by two for each shift position (ignoring overflow). For example, 5 (00000101) left shifted by one becomes 10 (00001010). Shifting by more positions scales accordingly. The other ideas—shifting bits to the right, flipping all bits, or adding 1 to every bit—describe different operations, not left shifting. Keep in mind that in some languages or contexts, overflow or sign-bit rules can affect behavior, but the core idea is shifting bits to the left and inserting zeros on the right.

Left shift moves each bit in a binary value toward the more significant side by the specified amount. As bits move left, those that go past the left edge are discarded and zeros fill in on the right. This is like multiplying by two for each shift position (ignoring overflow). For example, 5 (00000101) left shifted by one becomes 10 (00001010). Shifting by more positions scales accordingly. The other ideas—shifting bits to the right, flipping all bits, or adding 1 to every bit—describe different operations, not left shifting. Keep in mind that in some languages or contexts, overflow or sign-bit rules can affect behavior, but the core idea is shifting bits to the left and inserting zeros on the right.