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+.. highlight:: cpp
+
+.. _lang-compoundbitwise:
+
+Compound Bitwise Operators (``&=``, ``|=``, ``^=``)
+===================================================
+
+The compound bitwise operators perform their calculations at the
+bit level of variables. They are often used to clear and set
+specific bits of a variable.
+
+See the :ref:`bitwise math tutorial <lang-bitwisemath>` for more
+information on bitwise operators.
+
+.. contents:: Contents
+ :local:
+
+.. _lang-compoundbitwise-and:
+
+Compound bitwise AND (``&=``)
+-----------------------------
+
+The compound bitwise AND operator ``&=`` is often used with a variable
+and a constant to force particular bits in a variable to be zero. This
+is often referred to in programming guides as "clearing" or
+"resetting" bits. In a program, writing the line ``x &= y;`` is
+equivalent to writing ``x = x & y;``. That is, the value of ``x``
+after the line will be equal to its old value bitwise ANDed with the
+value of ``y``::
+
+ x &= y; // equivalent to x = x & y;
+
+You can use any integer variable for ``x`` (i.e., any variable of type
+``int``, ``long``, ``char``, ``byte``, etc.). You can use either an
+integer variable or any :ref:`integer value
+<lang-constants-integers>` (like ``3`` or ``0x20``) for ``y``.
+
+Before doing an example of ``&=``, let's first review the Bitwise AND
+(``&``) operator::
+
+ 0 0 1 1 operand1
+ 0 1 0 1 operand2
+ ----------
+ 0 0 0 1 (operand1 & operand2) = result
+
+As shown above, bits that are "bitwise ANDed" with 0 become 0, while
+bits that are "bitwise ANDed" with 1 are left unchanged. So, if ``b``
+is a ``byte`` variable, then ``b & B00000000`` equals zero, and ``b &
+B11111111`` equals ``b``.
+
+.. _lang-compoundbitwise-binconst:
+
+.. note:: The above uses :ref:`binary constants
+ <lang-constants-integers-bin>`\ . The numbers are still the same
+ value in other representations, they just might not be as easy to
+ understand.
+
+ Normally, in C and C++ code, :ref:`hexadecimal
+ <lang-constants-integers-hex>` or :ref:`octal
+ <lang-constants-integers-oct>` are used when we're interested in
+ an integer's bits, rather than its value as a number.
+
+ While hexadecimal and octal literals might be harder to understand
+ at first, you should really take the time to learn them. They're
+ part of C, C++, and many other programming languages, while binary
+ constants are available only for compatibility with Arduino.
+
+ Also, ``B00000000`` is shown for clarity, but zero in any number
+ format is zero.
+
+So, to clear (set to zero) bits 0 and 1 of a one-byte variable, while
+leaving the rest of the variable's bits unchanged, use the compound
+bitwise AND operator ``&=`` with the constant ``B11111100``
+(hexadecimal ``0xFC``\ )::
+
+ 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 variable
+ 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 mask
+ ----------------------
+ 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
+ unchanged cleared
+
+
+Here is the same representation with the variable's bits replaced
+with the symbol ``x``\ ::
+
+ x x x x x x x x variable
+ 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 mask
+ ----------------------
+ x x x x x x 0 0
+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
+ unchanged cleared
+
+
+So, using a byte variable ``b``\ , if we say::
+
+ b = B10101010; // B10101010 == 0xAA
+ b &= B11111100; // B11111100 == 0xFC
+
+then we will have ::
+
+ b == B10101000; // B10101000 == 0xA8
+
+.. _lang-compoundbitwise-or:
+
+Compound bitwise OR (``|=``)
+----------------------------
+
+The compound bitwise OR operator ``|=`` is often used with a variable
+and a constant to "set" (set to 1) particular bits in a variable. In
+a program, writing the line ``x |= y;`` is equivalent to writing ``x =
+x | y;``. That is, the value of ``x`` after the line will be equal to
+its old value bitwise ORed with the value of ``y``::
+
+ x |= y; // equivalent to x = x | y;
+
+You can use any integer variable for ``x`` (i.e., any variable of type
+``int``, ``long``, ``char``, ``byte``, etc.). You can use either an
+integer variable or any integer value (like ``3`` or ``0x20``) for
+``y``. (This works the same way as :ref:`compound bitwise AND
+<lang-compoundbitwise-and>`\ , ``&=``).
+
+Before doing an example of ``|=``, let's first review the Bitwise OR
+(``|``) operator::
+
+ 0 0 1 1 operand1
+ 0 1 0 1 operand2
+ ----------
+ 0 1 1 1 (operand1 | operand2) = result
+
+Bits that are "bitwise ORed" with 0 are unchanged, while bits that are
+"bitwise ORed" with 1 are set to 1. So if ``b`` is a ``byte``
+variable, then ``b | B00000000`` equals ``b``, and ``b & B11111111``
+equals ``B11111111`` (here we've used binary constants; see the
+:ref:`note <lang-compoundbitwise-binconst>` above).
+
+So, to set bits 0 and 1 of a one-byte variable, while leaving the rest
+of the variable unchanged, use the compound bitwise OR operator
+(``|=``) with the constant ``B00000011`` (hexadecimal ``0x3``)::
+
+ 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 variable
+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 mask
+ ----------------------
+ 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1
+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
+ unchanged set
+
+Here is the same representation with the variable's bits replaced with
+the symbol ``x``::
+
+ x x x x x x x x variable
+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 mask
+ ----------------------
+ x x x x x x 1 1
+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
+ unchanged set
+
+So, using a byte variable ``b``, if we say::
+
+ b = B10101010; // B10101010 == 0xAA
+ b |= B00000011; // B00000011 == 0x3
+
+then we will have ::
+
+ b == B10101011; // B10101011 == 0xAB
+
+.. _lang-compoundbitwise-xor:
+
+Compound bitwise XOR (``^=``)
+-----------------------------
+
+The compound bitwise XOR operator ``^=`` is used with a variable and a
+constant to "toggle" (change 0 to 1, and 1 to 0) particular bits in a
+variable. In a program, writing the line ``x ^= y;`` is equivalent to
+writing ``x = x ^ y;``. That is, the value of ``x`` after the line
+will be equal to its old value bitwise XORed with the value of ``y``::
+
+ x ^= y; // equivalent to x = x ^ y;
+
+You can use any integer variable for ``x`` (i.e., any variable of type
+``int``, ``long``, ``char``, ``byte``, etc.). You can use either an
+integer variable or any integer value (like ``3`` or ``0x20``) for
+``y``. (This works the same way as :ref:`&=
+<lang-compoundbitwise-and>` and :ref:`\|=
+<lang-compoundbitwise-or>`; in fact, these three operators all
+work the same in this way).
+
+Before doing an example of ``^=``, let's first review the Bitwise
+XOR operator, ``^``::
+
+ 0 0 1 1 operand1
+ 0 1 0 1 operand2
+ ----------
+ 0 1 1 0 (operand1 ^ operand2) = result
+
+One way to look at bitwise XOR is that each bit in the result is a 1
+if the input bits are different, or 0 if they are the same. Another
+way to think about it is that the result bit will be 1 when *exactly*
+one (no more, no less) of the input bits is 1; otherwise, it will be
+zero. This means that if you XOR a bit with 1, it will change (or
+toggle) its value, while if you XOR a bit with 0, it stays the same.
+
+So, to toggle bits 0 and 1 of a one-byte variable, while leaving the
+rest of the variable unchanged, use the compound bitwise XOR operator
+``^=`` with the constant ``B00000011`` (hexadecimal ``0x3``\ ; see
+:ref:`note <lang-compoundbitwise-binconst>` above)::
+
+ 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 variable
+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 mask
+ ----------------------
+ 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1
+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^
+ unchanged toggled
+
+So, using a byte variable ``b``, if we say::
+
+ b = B10101010; // B10101010 == 0xAA
+ b ^= B00000011; // B00000011 == 0x3
+
+then we will have ::
+
+ b == B10101001; // B10101001 == 0xA9
+
+See Also
+--------
+
+- :ref:`Boolean operations <lang-boolean>` (``&&``, ``||``)
+- :ref:`Bitwise operators <lang-bitwisemath>` (``&``, ``|``, ``^``, ``~``)
+
+
+.. include:: cc-attribution.txt