Editing Binary flags (section)

=== Operations in binary ===

What can we do with these numbers tho? There are 3 binary operators available in byond: And (&), Or (|) and Not (~). NOTE: These are binary operators, which means they do the operation on each individual bit.

A good way to understand how these work is to not think of these 1s and 0s as numbers, but as truth and lies (false). So wherever you have a 1, you can substitute it with a true statement, while where you have a 0 you substitute it with a lie (a false statement).

==== Binary Not ( ~ ) ====
[[file:NOTgate.gif]]

This is the simplest one. All it does it inverts the statement. 

~0 = 1
~1 = 0

The easiest way to understand this is simply, if you have a true statement "The sky is blue" and you stick a not in it, the statement's meaning is inverted: "The sky is not blue". So if the original statement was true (1), then the inverted one is of course false (0). ~1 = 0.

The same applies if you negate a false statement. If you have a false statement: "The sky is green" and you negate it, it becomes the truth: "The sky is not green". ~0 = 1.

==== Binary And ( & ) ====
[[file:ANDgate.gif]]


AND is defined with two statements. If you either of them is a lie, then the whole statement will be a lie. Because both the first AND the second must be true for the statement to be the truth.

0 & 0 = 0 (If you tell a lie, and then tell another lie, overall you are lying)

0 & 1 = 0 (If you tell a lie, and then tell some truth, you have still lied overall)

1 & 0 = 0 (If you tell the truth, but then lie, you have lied overall)

1 & 1 = 1 (If you tell the truth and then tell another truth, you have told the truth overall)

==== Binary Or ( | ) ====
[[file:ORgate.gif]]


OR is also defined with two statements. It however only requires one of the two to be true for the statement to be true.

0 | 0 = 0 ( The sky is green or the night is sunny. Both statements are lies, so it is still a lie overall )

0 | 1 = 1 ( The sky is green or the night is dark. One of the statements is true, so the overall statement is true )

1 | 0 = 1 ( the sky is blue or the night is sunny. One of the statements is true, so the overall statement is true )

1 | 1 = 1 ( the sky is blue or the night is dark. Both statements are true, meaning the overall statement is true )

==== Binary Xor ( ^ ) ====
[[file:XORgate.gif]]

XOR is like OR, except if both statements are true, the output is false. XOR is also known as a difference detector, it'll output true if the two inputs are different from each other. 

*0 ^ 0 = 0
*0 ^ 1 = 1
*1 ^ 0 = 1
*1 ^ 1 = 0