How to add two numbers without using ++ or + or another arithmetic operator

Question

How do I add two numbers without using ++ or + or any other arithmetic operator?

It was a question asked a long time ago in some campus interview. Anyway, today some

Answer 1

This can be done recursively:

int add_without_arithm_recursively(int a, int b)
{
    if (b == 0) 
        return a;

    int sum = a ^ b; // add without carrying
    int carry = (a & b) << 1; // carry, but don’t add
    return add_without_arithm_recursively(sum, carry); // recurse
}

or iteratively:

int add_without_arithm_iteratively(int a, int b)
{
    int sum, carry;

    do 
    {
        sum = a ^ b; // add without carrying
        carry = (a & b) << 1; // carry, but don’t add

        a = sum;
        b = carry;
    } while (b != 0);

    return a;
}