Bitwise NOT.
This is a bitwise NOT, that changes zeros to ones, and ones to zeros.
<?php
$a = 11;
printf("~%b = %b", $a, ~$a);
?> ~1011 = 11111111111111111111111111110100 A 32-bit integer is assigned the value 11. It is printed as a binary number together with its corresponding bitwise inverted number.