Bitwise not in python over unsigned numbers

Question

I want to do a bitwise not in Python, but withouth taking care of the sign, as C would do. For example:

>>> x = 4
>>> y = ~x
>>> bin(x)
'0b100'
>>> bin(y)
'0b101'

In the above code, y is 0b101, but I want it to be 0b011, literally the bitwise not applied to number 4. How can I do this?

Answer 1

Since Python ints are both signed and not a defined size of bits, the easiest way is to just XOR with an all 1's mask of the required bit length.

For example to get a NOT for 4 bits:

bin(x ^ 0b1111)

Test:

>>> x = 4
>>> bin(x)
'0b100'
>>> bin(x ^ 0b1111)
'0b1011'