Note: Masks are often expressed in either hexadecimal or decimal notation for simplicity of expression, as shown in the IP subnetting summary tables. However, the masks are always applied in binary, as described above. You should convert the mask to binary if you want to see exactly how the masking operation is going to work.

Key Concept: The properties of the OR and AND boolean functions make them useful when certain bits of a data item need to be set (changed to 1) or cleared (changed to 0), a process called bit masking. To set bits to one, a mask is created and used in a bit-by-bit OR with the input; where the mask has a value of 1, the bit is forced to a 1, while each 0 bit leaves the corresponding original bit unchanged. Similarly, a mask used with AND clears certain bits; each 1 bit in the mask leaves the original bit alone, while each 0 forces the output to 0. Finally, XOR can be used to invert selected bits using a mask.