That's a reasonable tradeoff for Python, but it's worth noting that there is a way to deal with this. Quoting from http://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutori

That's a reasonable tradeoff for Python, but it's worth noting that there is a way to deal with this. Quoting from http://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/IntegerAndNumberTheoreticalFunctions.html http://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/IntegerAndNum... Bitwise operations are used in various combinatorial algorithms. They are also commonly used in manipulating bitfields in low‐level computer languages. In such languages, however, integers normally have a limited number of digits, typically a multiple of 8. Bitwise operations in the Wolfram Language in effect allow integers to have an unlimited number of digits. When an integer is negative, it is taken to be represented in two's complement form, with an infinite sequence of ones on the left. This allows BitNot[n] to be equivalent simply to (-1 - n).