What does a circled plus mean?

Solution 1:

People are saying that the symbol doesn't mean addition. This is true, but doesn't explain why a plus-like symbol is used for something that isn't addition.

The answer is that for modulo addition of 1-bit values, 0+0 == 1+1 == 0, and 0+1 == 1+0 == 1. Those are the same values as XOR.

So, plus in a circle in this context means "bitwise addition modulo-2". Which is, as everyone says, XOR for integers. It's common in mathematics to use plus in a circle for an operation which is a sort of addition, but isn't regular integer addition.

Solution 2:

This is not an plus, but the sign for the binary operator XOR

a   b   a XOR b
0   0   0
0   1   1
1   0   1
1   1   0

Solution 3:

It's not an addition, but an exclusive OR operation. At least the output confirms to the same.