what does this line do?
LATA |= (1<<j);
This line is a bitwise OR operation that sets the jth bit of the LATA variable to 1.
The line you provided performs a bitwise OR operation between the value stored in the variable `LATA` and a bitmask.
Let's break it down step-by-step:
1. `(1<<j)` shifts the binary representation of the number 1 to the left by `j` positions, where `j` is a variable or a constant. This effectively sets the `j`th bit to 1, and all other bits to 0.
- For example, if `j` is 2, then `(1<<j)` results in binary `00000100`.
2. The resulting bitmask, `(1<<j)`, is then bitwise OR-ed with the value stored in the variable `LATA`.
- The bitwise OR operation sets the corresponding bits of `LATA` to 1 if either the corresponding bit of the bitmask or the corresponding bit of `LATA` is 1.
3. Finally, the result of the bitwise OR operation is then stored back into the variable `LATA`, updating its value with the new bits.
In summary, the line `LATA |= (1<<j);` sets the `j`th bit of the variable `LATA` to 1, without affecting the other bits.
The line you provided performs a bitwise OR operation and updates the value of the variable `LATA`. It sets the jth bit of `LATA` to 1.
To understand this line in detail, let's break it down step by step:
1. `(1<<j)`: This part shifts the binary value 1 (`00000001`) j positions to the left. In other words, it creates a binary value with only the jth bit set to 1, and all other bits set to 0.
2. `LATA |= (1<<j)`: The `|=` operator performs a bitwise OR operation between the value of `LATA` and `(1<<j)`. It then assigns the result back to `LATA`. The bitwise OR operation sets the corresponding bits to 1 if at least one of the corresponding bits in either operand is 1. In this case, it sets the jth bit of `LATA` to 1.
Therefore, this line effectively sets the jth bit of `LATA` to 1 while keeping the values of other bits unchanged.