bithacks.h - bit hacks header file - good coders code, great reuse

A part of being a great programmer is having your personal code library. With a personal code library I mean a repository of code that you have an intimate knowledge of and that you can reuse quickly. If you are a C programmer, you don’t want to reimplement linked lists, trees, various utility functions, macros and algorithms each time you write a new program. Rather you want to take them from your repository, adjust and incorporate in your code.

A good example is the implementation of linked lists in the Linux kernel. Every kernel developer knows it and uses it if necessary. They wouldn’t reimplement it. Another example is all the code written by djb. It’s so good that people have taken it and turned into libdjb code library.

With this article I’d like to open a new topic in this blog where I share code from my personal code library. I’ll start with a C header file that I created just recently based on my Bit Hacks You Should Know About article.

This header file is called “bithacks.h” and it contains various macros for bit manipulations. I also wrote tests for all the macros in the “bithacks-test.c” program.

The most beautiful part of “bithacks.h” is the “B8” macro that allows to write something like ” x = B8(10101010) ” and turns it into ” x = 170 ” (because 10101010 in binary is 170 in decimal). I have not yet added B16 and B32 macros but I will add them when I publish the article on advanced bithacks. The credit for the B8 idea goes to Tom Torfs who was the first to write it.

The “bithacks.h” header provides the following macros:

B8(x) - turns x written in binary into decimal,
B_EVEN(x) - tests if x is even (bithack #1),
B_ODD(x) - tests if x is odd (inverse of (bithack #1)),
B_IS_SET(x, n) - tests if n-th bit is set in x (bithack #2),
B_SET(x, n) - sets n-th bit in x (bithack #3),
B_UNSET(x, n) - unsets n-th bit in x (bithack #4),
B_TOGGLE(x, n) - toggles n-th bit in x (bithack #5),
B_TURNOFF_1(x) - turns off the right-most 1-bit in x (bithack #6),
B_ISOLATE_1(x) - isolates the right-most 1-bit in x (bithack #7),
B_PROPAGATE_1(x) - propagates the right-most 1-bit in x (bithack #8),
B_ISOLATE_0(x) - isolates the right-most 0-bit in x (bithack #9),
B_TURNON_0(x) - turn on the right-most 0-bit in x (bithack #10).

Please see “bithacks-test.c” for many examples of these macros.

For those who don’t want to download bithacks.h, here is its content:

/*
** bithacks.h - bit hacks macros. v1.0
**
** Released under the MIT license.
*/

#ifndef BITHACKS_H
#define BITHACKS_H

#define HEXIFY(X) 0x##X##LU

#define B8IFY(Y) (((Y&0x0000000FLU)?1:0)  + \
                  ((Y&0x000000F0LU)?2:0)  + \
                  ((Y&0x00000F00LU)?4:0)  + \
                  ((Y&0x0000F000LU)?8:0)  + \
                  ((Y&0x000F0000LU)?16:0) + \
                  ((Y&0x00F00000LU)?32:0) + \
                  ((Y&0x0F000000LU)?64:0) + \
                  ((Y&0xF0000000LU)?128:0))

#define B8(Z) ((unsigned char)B8IFY(HEXIFY(Z)))

/* test if x is even */
#define B_EVEN(x)        (((x)&1)==0)

/* test if x is odd */
#define B_ODD(x)         (!B_EVEN((x)))

/* test if n-th bit in x is set */
#define B_IS_SET(x, n)   (((x) & (1<<(n)))?1:0)

/* set n-th bit in x */
#define B_SET(x, n)      ((x) |= (1<<(n)))

/* unset n-th bit in x */
#define B_UNSET(x, n)    ((x) &= ~(1<<(n)))

/* toggle n-th bit in x */
#define B_TOGGLE(x, n)   ((x) ^= (1<<(n)))

/* turn off right-most 1-bit in x */
#define B_TURNOFF_1(x)   ((x) &= ((x)-1))

/* isolate right-most 1-bit in x */
#define B_ISOLATE_1(x)   ((x) &= (-(x)))

/* right-propagate right-most 1-bit in x */
#define B_PROPAGATE_1(x) ((x) |= ((x)-1))

/* isolate right-most 0-bit in x */
#define B_ISOLATE_0(x)   ((x) = ~(x) & ((x)+1))

/* turn on right-most 0-bit in x */
#define B_TURNON_0(x)    ((x) |= ((x)+1))

/*
** more bit hacks coming as soon as I post
** an article on advanced bit hacks
*/

#endif

And here are all the tests:

/*
** bithacks-test.c - tests for bithacks.h
**
** Released under the MIT license.
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

#include "bithacks.h"

int error_count;

#define TEST_OK(exp, what) do { \
    if ((exp)!=(what)) { \
        error_count++; \
        printf("Test '%s' at line %d failed.\n", #exp, __LINE__); \
    } } while(0)

#define TEST_END do { \
    if (error_count) { \
        printf("Testing failed: %d failed tests.\n", error_count); \
    } else { \
        printf("All tests OK.\n"); \
    } } while (0)

void test_B8()
{
    /* test B8 */
    TEST_OK(B8(0), 0);
    TEST_OK(B8(1), 1);
    TEST_OK(B8(11), 3);
    TEST_OK(B8(111), 7);
    TEST_OK(B8(1111), 15);
    TEST_OK(B8(11111), 31);
    TEST_OK(B8(111111), 63);
    TEST_OK(B8(1111111), 127);
    TEST_OK(B8(00000000), 0);
    TEST_OK(B8(11111111), 255);
    TEST_OK(B8(1010), 10);
    TEST_OK(B8(10101010), 170);
    TEST_OK(B8(01010101), 85);
}

void test_B_EVEN()
{
    /* test B_EVEN */
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(B8(0)), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(B8(00000000)), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(B8(1)), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(B8(11111111)), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(B8(10101010)), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(B8(01010101)), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(44), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_EVEN(131), 0);
}

void test_B_ODD()
{
    /* test B_ODD */
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(B8(0)), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(B8(00000000)), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(B8(1)), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(B8(11111111)), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(B8(10101010)), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(B8(01010101)), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(44), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_ODD(131), 1);
}

void test_B_IS_SET()
{
    /* test B_IS_SET */
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(0), 0), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00000000), 0), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(1), 0), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 0), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 1), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 2), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 3), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 4), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 5), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 6), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11111111), 7), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 0), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 1), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 2), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 3), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 4), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 5), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 6), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(11110000), 7), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 0), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 1), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 2), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 3), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 4), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 5), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 6), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(00001111), 7), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 0), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 1), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 2), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 3), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 4), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 5), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 6), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(10101010), 7), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 0), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 1), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 2), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 3), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 4), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 5), 0);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 6), 1);
    TEST_OK(B_IS_SET(B8(01010101), 7), 0);
}

void test_B_SET()
{
    /* test B_SET */
    unsigned char x;

    x = B8(00000000);
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 0), B8(00000001));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 1), B8(00000011));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 2), B8(00000111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 3), B8(00001111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 4), B8(00011111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 5), B8(00111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 6), B8(01111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 7), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11111111);
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 0), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 1), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 2), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 3), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 4), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 5), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 6), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_SET(x, 7), B8(11111111));
}

void test_B_UNSET()
{
    unsigned char x;

    x = B8(11111111);
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 0), B8(11111110));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 1), B8(11111100));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 2), B8(11111000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 3), B8(11110000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 4), B8(11100000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 5), B8(11000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 6), B8(10000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 7), B8(00000000));

    x = B8(00000000);
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 0), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 1), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 2), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 3), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 4), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 5), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 6), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_UNSET(x, 7), B8(00000000));
}

void test_B_TOGGLE()
{
    unsigned char x = B8(11111111);
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 0), B8(11111110));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 0), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 1), B8(11111101));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 1), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 2), B8(11111011));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 2), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 3), B8(11110111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 3), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 4), B8(11101111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 4), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 5), B8(11011111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 5), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 6), B8(10111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 6), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 7), B8(01111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TOGGLE(x, 7), B8(11111111));
}

void test_B_TURNOFF_1()
{
    unsigned char x;

    x = B8(11111111);
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(11111110));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(11111100));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(11111000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(11110000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(11100000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(11000000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(10000000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(00000000));

    x = B8(10101010);
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(10101000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(10100000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(10000000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(00000000));

    x = B8(01010101);
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(01010100));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(01010000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(01000000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(00000000));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNOFF_1(x), B8(00000000));
}

void test_B_ISOLATE_1()
{
    unsigned char x;

    x = B8(11111111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000001));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(11111110);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000010));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000010));

    x = B8(11111100);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000100));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000100));

    x = B8(11111000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00001000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00001000));

    x = B8(11110000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00010000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00010000));

    x = B8(11100000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00100000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00100000));

    x = B8(11000000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(01000000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(01000000));

    x = B8(10000000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(10000000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(10000000));

    x = B8(00000000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000000));

    x = B8(10000000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(10000000));

    x = B8(10001001);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(10001000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_1(x), B8(00001000));
}

void test_B_PROPAGATE_1()
{
    unsigned char x;

    x = B8(00000000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(10000000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11000000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11100000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11110000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11111000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11111100);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11111110);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(11111111);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(00100000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(00111111));
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(00111111));

    x = B8(10101000);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(10101111));
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(10101111));

    x = B8(10101010);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(10101011));
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(10101011));

    x = B8(10101010);
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(10101011));
    TEST_OK(B_PROPAGATE_1(x), B8(10101011));
}

void test_B_ISOLATE_0()
{
    unsigned char x;

    x = B8(00000000);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000010));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(00000011);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000100));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(00000111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00001000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(00001111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00010000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(00011111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00100000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(00111111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(01000000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(01111111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(10000000));
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000001));

    x = B8(11111111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000000));

    x = B8(01010101);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00000010));

    x = B8(01010111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00001000));

    x = B8(01011111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(00100000));

    x = B8(01111111);
    TEST_OK(B_ISOLATE_0(x), B8(10000000));
}

void test_B_TURNON_0()
{
    unsigned char x;

    x = B8(00000000);
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(00000001));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(00000011));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(00000111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(00001111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(00011111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(00111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(01111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(11111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(10101010);
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10101011));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10101111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(11111111));

    x = B8(10000000);
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10000001));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10000011));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10000111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10001111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10011111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(10111111));
    TEST_OK(B_TURNON_0(x), B8(11111111));
}

int main()
{
    test_B8();
    test_B_EVEN();
    test_B_ODD();
    test_B_IS_SET();
    test_B_SET();
    test_B_UNSET();
    test_B_TOGGLE();
    test_B_TURNOFF_1();
    test_B_ISOLATE_1();
    test_B_PROPAGATE_1();
    test_B_ISOLATE_0();
    test_B_TURNON_0();

    TEST_END;

    return error_count ? EXIT_FAILURE : EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Download “bithacks.h” header file:

Download: bithacks.h
Downloaded: 1171 times.
Download url: http://www.catonmat.net/download/bithacks.h

Download: bithacks-test.c
Downloaded: 827 times.
Download url: http://www.catonmat.net/download/bithacks-test.c

The next post about this topic will be on advanced bithacks and extending bithacks.h with these new, advanced bithacks.

Have fun!

16 Responses

Alecco says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:22 pm
“Linux lists” seem to be from BSD’s queue.h :) You can man queue(3) on mosty *nix systems (from Mac to Linux) and find other great macros.

Anders Eurenius says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 pm

You seem to have missed out on

BITCOUNT.. I think it is one of the most wonderfully disturbing pieces of code I have ever seen.

Reverse is also quote cool:

n = ((n >>  1 ) & 0x55555555) | ((n <<  1 ) & 0xaaaaaaaa);
n = ((n >>  2 ) & 0x33333333) | ((n <<  2 ) & 0xcccccccc);
n = ((n >>  4 ) & 0x0f0f0f0f) | ((n <<  4 ) & 0xf0f0f0f0);
n = ((n >>  8 ) & 0x00ff00ff) | ((n <<  8 ) & 0xff00ff00);
n = ((n >> 16 ) & 0x0000ffff) | ((n << 16 ) & 0xffff0000);

Reperio says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Excellent piece of code. Certainly, I will include some lines to my personal library. However, I suggest to change macro
#define HEXIFY(x) 0x##x##LU
to
#define HEXIFY(V) 0x##V##LU
since in Visual C++ 2008 compiler it failed to produce right results.
Peteris Krumins says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Anders, thanks for the comment. I am not sure what that reverse does though. Will take me some time to grasp that one.

Reperio, hmm, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work in MSVC2008. I will test it out myself!
pandres says:
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Enjoyed your post on bit hacks and this one is very instructional, at least for me. Looking forward for more C posts!
f00li5h says:
September 4th, 2009 at 11:09 am
pawing at you!
Sam Blank says:
September 4th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Running this on Visual C++ 2005, 110 of the 217 tests failed.
For example, B8(11) gives a result of 7 — should be 3.
Peteris Krumins says:
September 6th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Sam Blank, Visual C++ 2005 acts weirdly. I listed the preprocessor output and found that it replaced ‘x’ in B8IFY(x) macro inside tokens (0×0000000FLU, 0×000000F0LU, and others). Now I renamed it to ‘X’ as Reperio suggested, and it works correctly.
Aybe says:
October 5th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Sorry but I haven’t grasped the BITCOUNT and reverse goals, can you explain a little more ?

Thank you,
Peteris Krumins says:
October 5th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Hi Aybe. I’ll explain it in the next part about bithacks. It’s a lot of writing for a comment and it will be better that I write it as a post!
Aybe says:
October 29th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Alright, thank you !
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December 8th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
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December 19th, 2009 at 3:53 am
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Ben says:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:36 am

Hi,
your B_SET macros has a LP-64 portability problem.
Consider:

unsigned long_t x = 0;
B_SET(x, 31);
assert(x == (1UL
The assertion will fail because with ((x) |= (1
#define BIT_MASK(x,n) ( ((__typeof((x)))1)

I think, 1LL should also work on most platforms.

Btw: Any naming suggestions for macros that do not modify
their first argument but simply create a new value?
Basically, |= vs. |

Ben says:
January 14th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Sorry, that did not work as expected :(

B_SET(x, 31) fails because:
- 1 is int (32-bit)
- x is unsigned long (64-bit)
- (1long->unsigned long will sign
extend the rhs of |=

One fix: use typeof
#define BIT_MASK(x,n) ( ((__typeof((x)))1)
#define B_SET(x,n) ((x)|=BIT_MASK((x),(n)))

In c++ one could use templates.