All about Bit Manipulation
Last Updated :
18 Apr, 2023
Bit Manipulation is a technique used in a variety of problems to get the solution in an optimized way. This technique is very effective from a Competitive Programming point of view. It is all about Bitwise Operators which directly works upon binary numbers or bits of numbers that help the implementation fast. Below are the Bitwise Operators that are used:
- Bitwise AND (&)
- Bitwise OR (|)
- Bitwise XOR (^)
- Bitwise NOT (!)
All data in computer programs are internally stored as bits, i.e., as numbers 0 and 1.
Bit representation
In programming, an n-bit integer is internally stored as a binary number that consists of n bits. For example, the C++ type int is a 32-bit type, which means that every int number consists of 32 bits.
The int number 43 = 00000000000000000000000000101011
The bits in the representation are indexed from right to left. To convert a bit representation bk ···b2 b1 b0 into a number, we can use the formula
bk2k +…+ b222 + b121 + b020.
E.g., 1·25+1·23 +1·21 +1·20 = 43.
The bit representation of a number is either signed or unsigned.
Usually, a signed representation is used, which means that both negative and positive numbers can be represented.
A signed variable of n bits can contain any integer between -2n-1 and 2n-1 – 1
The int type in C++ is a signed type, so an int variable can contain any integer between -231 and 231 – 1.
The first bit in a signed representation is the sign of the number, 0 for non-negative numbers and 1 for negative numbers and the remaining n−1 bits contain the magnitude of the number.
Two’s complement is used, which means that the opposite number of a number is calculated by first inverting all the bits in the number, and then increasing the number by one.
The bit representation of the int number −43 is 11111111111111111111111111010101
In an unsigned representation, only non-negative numbers can be used, but the upper bound for the values is larger.
An unsigned variable of n bits can contain any integer between 0 and 2n −1.
In C++, an unsigned int variable can contain any integer between 0 and 232 −1.
There is a connection between the representations:
A signed number −x equals an unsigned number 2n − x.
For example, the following pseudo-code snippet shows that the signed number
x = −43 equals the unsigned number y = 232 −43:
the pseudo-code snippet shows that the signed number
If a number is larger than the upper bound of the bit representation, the number will overflow. In a signed representation, the next number after 2n-1 – 1 is -2n-1, and in an unsigned representation, the next number after 2n -1 is 0. For example, consider the following pseudo-code snippet:
Initially, the value of x is 231 −1. This is the largest value that can be stored in an int variable, so the next number after 231 −1 is −231 .
Learn more about Bitwise Operators in this article. Below are some common bit operations that are frequently used in programming:
Bitwise Operations:
Below is the table to illustrate the result when the operation is performed using Bitwise Operators. Here 0s or 1s mean a sequence of 0 or 1 respectively.
Operators |
Operations |
Result |
XOR |
X ^ 0s |
X |
XOR |
X ^ 1s |
~X |
XOR |
X ^ X |
0 |
AND |
X & 0s |
0 |
AND |
X & 1s |
X |
AND |
X & X |
X |
OR |
X | 0s |
X |
OR |
X | 1s |
1s |
OR |
X | X |
X |
Get Bit:
This method is used to find the bit at a particular position(say i) of the given number N. The idea is to find the Bitwise AND of the given number and 2i that can be represented as (1 << i). If the value return is 1 then the bit at the ith position is set. Otherwise, it is unset.
Below is the pseudo-code for the same:
C++
bool getBit( int num, int i)
{
return ((num & (1 << i)) != 0);
}
|
Java
static boolean getBit( int num, int i)
{
return ((num & ( 1 << i)) != 0 );
}
|
Python3
def getBit(num, i):
return ((num & ( 1 << i)) ! = 0 )
|
C#
static bool getBit( int num, int i)
{
return ((num & (1 << i)) != 0);
}
|
Javascript
<script>
function getBit(num, i)
{
return ((num & (1 << i)) != 0);
}
</script>
|
Set Bit:
This method is used to set the bit at a particular position(say i) of the given number N. The idea is to update the value of the given number N to the Bitwise OR of the given number N and 2i that can be represented as (1 << i). If the value return is 1 then the bit at the ith position is set. Otherwise, it is unset.
Below is the pseudo-code for the same:
C++
int setBit( int num, int i)
{
return num | (1 << i);
}
|
Java
static int setBit( int num, int i)
{
return num | ( 1 << i);
}
|
Python3
def setBit(num, i):
return num | ( 1 << i)
|
C#
static int setBit( int num, int i)
{
return num | (1 << i);
}
|
Javascript
function setBit(num, i)
{
return num | (1 << i);
}
|
Clear Bit:
This method is used to clear the bit at a particular position(say i) of the given number N. The idea is to update the value of the given number N to the Bitwise AND of the given number N and the compliment of 2i that can be represented as ~(1 << i). If the value return is 1 then the bit at the ith position is set. Otherwise, it is unset.
Below is the pseudo-code for the same:
C++
int clearBit( int num, int i)
{
int mask = ~(1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
|
Java
static int clearBit( int num, int i)
{
int mask = ~( 1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
|
Python3
def clearBit(num, i):
mask = ~( 1 << i)
return num & mask
|
C#
static int clearBit( int num, int i)
{
int mask = ~(1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
|
Javascript
function clearBit(num, i)
{
let mask = ~(1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
|
Below is the program that implements the above functionalities:
C++
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
bool getBit( int num, int i)
{
return ((num & (1 << i)) != 0);
}
int setBit( int num, int i)
{
return num | (1 << i);
}
int clearBit( int num, int i)
{
int mask = ~(1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
int main()
{
int N = 70;
cout << "The bit at the 3rd position from LSB is: "
<< (getBit(N, 3) ? '1' : '0' )
<< endl;
cout << "The value of the given number "
<< "after setting the bit at "
<< "LSB is: "
<< setBit(N, 0) << endl;
cout << "The value of the given number "
<< "after clearing the bit at "
<< "LSB is: "
<< clearBit(N, 0) << endl;
return 0;
}
|
Java
import java.io.*;
class GFG{
static boolean getBit( int num, int i)
{
return ((num & ( 1 << i)) != 0 );
}
static int setBit( int num, int i)
{
return num | ( 1 << i);
}
static int clearBit( int num, int i)
{
int mask = ~( 1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
int N = 70 ;
System.out.println( "The bit at the 3rd position from LSB is: " +
(getBit(N, 3 ) ? '1' : '0' ));
System.out.println( "The value of the given number " +
"after setting the bit at " +
"LSB is: " + setBit(N, 0 ));
System.out.println( "The value of the given number " +
"after clearing the bit at " +
"LSB is: " + clearBit(N, 0 ));
}
}
|
Python
def getBit( num, i):
return ((num & ( 1 << i)) ! = 0 )
def setBit( num, i):
return num | ( 1 << i)
def clearBit( num, i):
mask = ~( 1 << i)
return num & mask
N = 70
print "The bit at the 3rd position from LSB is: " , 1 if (getBit(N, 3 )) else '0'
print "The value of the given number" , "after setting the bit at" , "LSB is: " , setBit(N, 0 )
print "The value of the given number" , "after clearing the bit at" , "LSB is: " , clearBit(N, 0 )
|
C#
using System;
class GFG {
static bool getBit( int num, int i)
{
return ((num & (1 << i)) != 0);
}
static int setBit( int num, int i)
{
return num | (1 << i);
}
static int clearBit( int num, int i)
{
int mask = ~(1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
public static void Main()
{
int N = 70;
Console.WriteLine( "The bit at the 3rd position form LSB is: "
+ (getBit(N, 3) ? '1' : '0' ));
Console.WriteLine( "The value of the given number "
+ "after setting the bit at "
+ "LSB is: " + setBit(N, 0));
Console.WriteLine( "The value of the given number "
+ "after clearing the bit at "
+ "LSB is: " + clearBit(N, 0));
}
}
|
Javascript
<script>
function getBit(num, i)
{
return ((num & (1 << i)) != 0);
}
function setBit(num, i)
{
return num | (1 << i);
}
function clearBit(num, i)
{
let mask = ~(1 << i);
return num & mask;
}
let N = 70;
document.write( "The bit at the 3rd position from LSB is: " +
(getBit(N, 3) ? '1' : '0' ) + "</br>" );
document.write( "The value of the given number " +
"after setting the bit at " +
"LSB is: " + setBit(N, 0) + "</br>" );
document.write( "The value of the given number " +
"after clearing the bit at " +
"LSB is: " + clearBit(N, 0) + "</br>" );
</script>
|
Output
The bit at the 3rd position from LSB is: 0
The value of the given number after setting the bit at LSB is: 71
The value of the given number after clearing the bit at LSB is: 70
Time Complexity: O(1)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)
Application of Bitwise Operator
- Bitwise operations are prominent in embedded systems, control systems, etc where memory(data transmission/data points) is still an issue.
- They are also useful in networking where it is important to reduce the amount of data, so booleans are packed together. Packing them together and taking them apart use bitwise operations and shift instructions.
- Bitwise operations are also heavily used in the compression and encryption of data.
- Useful in graphics programming, older GUIs are heavily dependent on bitwise operations like XOR(^) for selection highlighting and other overlays.
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