Python: Find the XOR of two given strings interpreted as binary numbers

Last update on May 30 2025 11:48:42 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

XOR of Binary Strings

Write a Python program to find the XOR of two given strings interpreted as binary numbers.

Note: XOR represents the inequality function, i.e., the output is true if the inputs are not alike otherwise the output is false. A way to remember XOR is "must have one or the other but not both". XOR can also be viewed as addition modulo 2. As a result, XOR gates are used to implement binary addition in computers.

Input:
['0001', '1011']
Output:
0b1010

Input:
['100011101100001', '100101100101110']
Output:
0b110001001111

Visual Presentation:

Sample Solution-1:

Python Code:

# License: https://bit.ly/3oLErEI

# Define a function named 'test' that takes a list of binary strings 'nums' as input
def test(nums):
    # Use binary XOR (^) on the integers converted from the binary strings in the input list
    # Convert the result back to a binary string
    return bin(int(nums[0], 2) ^ int(nums[1], 2))

# Assign a specific list of binary strings 'nums' to the variable
nums = ["0001", "1011"]

# Print the original list of binary strings 'nums'
print("Original strings:")
print(nums)

# Print a message indicating the operation to be performed
print("XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:")

# Print the result of the test function applied to the 'nums' list
print(test(nums))

# Assign a different list of binary strings 'nums' to the variable
nums = ["100011101100001", "100101100101110"]

# Print the original list of binary strings 'nums'
print("\nOriginal strings:")
print(nums)

# Print a message indicating the operation to be performed
print("XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:")

# Print the result of the test function applied to the updated 'nums' list
print(test(nums))

Sample Output:

Original strings:
['0001', '1011']
XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:
0b1010

Original strings:
['100011101100001', '100101100101110']
XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:
0b110001001111

Flowchart:

Sample Solution-2:

Python Code:

# License: https://bit.ly/3oLErEI

# Define a function named 'test' that takes a list of binary strings 'nums' as input
def test(nums):
    # Unpack the list 'nums' into two binary strings 'a' and 'b'
    a, b = nums
    
    # Use binary XOR (^) on the integers converted from the binary strings in the input list
    xor = int(a, 2) ^ int(b, 2)
    
    # Convert the result back to a binary string, ensuring it has the same length as the input strings
    return bin(xor)[2:].zfill(len(a))

# Assign a specific list of binary strings 'nums' to the variable
nums = ["0001", "1011"]

# Print the original list of binary strings 'nums'
print("Original strings:")
print(nums)

# Print a message indicating the operation to be performed
print("XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:")

# Print the result of the test function applied to the 'nums' list
print(test(nums))

# Assign a different list of binary strings 'nums' to the variable
nums = ["100011101100001", "100101100101110"]

# Print the original list of binary strings 'nums'
print("\nOriginal strings:")
print(nums)

# Print a message indicating the operation to be performed
print("XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:")

# Print the result of the test function applied to the updated 'nums' list
print(test(nums))

Sample Output:

Original strings:
['0001', '1011']
XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:
1010

Original strings:
['100011101100001', '100101100101110']
XOR of two said strings interpreted as binary numbers:
000110001001111

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a Python program to compute the bitwise XOR of two binary string inputs and return the result as a binary literal.
• Write a Python program to convert two binary strings to integers, perform XOR, and output the result in binary format.
• Write a Python program to use bin() and int() functions to implement XOR on binary string representations.
• Write a Python program to calculate the XOR of two binary numbers represented as strings without using built-in functions.

Go to:

• Python Puzzles Exercises Home ↩
• Python Exercises Home ↩

Previous: Create a list whose ith element is the maximum of the first i elements of the input list.
Next: Find the largest number where commas or periods are decimal points.

Python Code Editor :

Have another way to solve this solution? Contribute your code (and comments) through Disqus.