Why swapping integer variable by XOR doesn't work in a single line?

Question

I want to swap the value of two integer variables in java using the XOR operator.

This is my code:

int i = 24;
int j = 17;

i ^= j;
j ^= i;
i ^= j;

         


        

Answer 1

The left-most i is being evaluated before it's changed.

You can instead do:

j ^= (i ^= j);
i ^= j;

Which is slightly less compact but works.