bitwise.shiftLeft

Description

Performs a left bit shift operation, moving all bits to the left by the specified number of positions. Zero bits are shifted in from the right.

Syntax 

flex.bitwise.shiftLeft(a, positions)

Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |———–|——|———-|————-| | a | number (integer) | Yes | The value to shift | | positions | number (integer) | Yes | Number of positions to shift left |

Returns

Type: number (integer)

The result of shifting the bits left by the specified positions.

Examples

Example 1: Basic Left Shift 

RETURN flex.bitwise.shiftLeft(5, 2) AS result

Output:

result
------
20

(Binary: 0101 « 2 = 10100 = 20)

Example 2: Multiply by Power of Two 

WITH 7 AS value
RETURN 
    flex.bitwise.shiftLeft(value, 1) AS times2,
    flex.bitwise.shiftLeft(value, 2) AS times4,
    flex.bitwise.shiftLeft(value, 3) AS times8

Output:

times2 | times4 | times8
-------|--------|-------
14     | 28     | 56

(Left shift by n is equivalent to multiplying by 2^n)

Example 3: Creating Bit Masks 

RETURN flex.bitwise.shiftLeft(1, 3) AS mask

Output:

mask
----
8

(Creates mask with bit 3 set: 1000)

Notes

  • Operates on 32-bit signed integers in JavaScript
  • Left shift by n is equivalent to multiplying by 2^n
  • Bits shifted off the left are discarded
  • Zero bits are shifted in from the right
  • Useful for multiplication by powers of 2 and creating bit masks

See Also