> > Confusing short-circuit logical operators > Using == instead of .equals to compare strings.

> These problems are more typo/syntax-based rather than logic-based.

Sure, but you can also see why it could take absolutely ages for a novice to work out what's wrong, right? The bitwise operators will work for evaluating logic like this in some cases, but not all. And the student knows it's something like "&" for "AND" and "|" for "OR". Could be a really tricky bug if you've been introduced to logical operations, but not bitwise ones, and don't therefore realise they could exist & be confused.