Bit manipulation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:23, 23 September 2023

Revision as of 18:24, 23 September 2023

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{{Short description|Algorithmically modifying data below the word level}}

{{Other uses|Manipulation (disambiguation){{!}}Manipulation}}

{{Distinguish|Bit-banging|Bit-banding}}

{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}

{{refimprove|date=February 2020}}

{{Confuse|Bit banging}}

'''Bit manipulation''' is the act of [[algorithm]]ically manipulating [[bit]]s or other pieces of [[Data (computing)|data]] shorter than a [[Word (data type)|word]]. [[Computer programming]] tasks that require bit manipulation include low-level device control, [[error detection]] and [[error correction|correction]] algorithms, [[data compression]], [[encryption]] algorithms, and [[Optimization (computer science)|optimization]]. For most other tasks, modern [[programming language]]s allow the [[programmer]] to work directly with [[Abstraction (computer science)|abstractions]] instead of bits that represent those abstractions.