What does the '|' operator signify in Python?

In Python, the '|' operator is utilized as a bitwise operator, which performs a bitwise OR operation on the operands. When applied to two numbers, it compares each bit and sets the corresponding result bit to 1 if either of the bits in the compared positions is 1.

Thus, the bitwise OR operation effectively yields a value that represents the logical 'or' condition at the bit level. This means that if either operand has a corresponding bit set to 1, the result will also have that bit set to 1. As a result, the '|' operator serves a critical purpose in situations where bitwise manipulations or specific boolean logic at the binary level are required.

The other logical operations such as 'and' and 'not' employ different operators: 'and' is indicated by 'and' and 'not' is shown by 'not', while the 'xor' operation is performed using the '^' operator in Python. Therefore, the '|' operator distinctly represents the bitwise OR functionality, confirming its alignment with the logical 'or' in the context of bitwise operations.