title: Bitwise operation and usage
body: <p>Consider this code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>x = 1        # 0001
  x &lt;&lt; 2       # Shift left 2 bits: 0100
  # Result: 4
  
  x | 2        # Bitwise OR: 0011
  # Result: 3
  
  x &amp; 1        # Bitwise AND: 0001
  # Result: 1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I can understand the arithmetic operators in Python (and other languages), but I never understood 'bitwise' operators quite well. In the above example (from a Python book), I understand the left-shift but not the other two.</p>
  
  <p>Also, what are bitwise operators actually used for? I'd appreciate some examples.</p>