What is Bit Manipulation?

Bit manipulation, which is also known as bit-banging or bit twiddling, is simply a means of changing the bits and data of a computer's programming. By tweaking the computer programming through bit manipulation, the programmer can create a significant impact on how quickly the computer can return answers to queries and solve computations or create complex algorithms for error detection and encryption. In the world of computers and technology, "faster," "safer" and "smaller" have become keywords. Bit manipulation gives computer programmers an effective means of reducing the overall size of their code while creating more efficient end products with a high level of security.

To understand what bit manipulation does, one must first understand a little about what programming languages do and the difference between bits and bytes. A computer programming language is essentially a prearranged set of codes and symbols that tell the computer what to do with given input. When a user presses a key on the keyboard, he or she might see a letter or number appear on the monitor instantly but, behind the scenes, the computer programming language is doing many things to make that happen. Even the simplest of functions on a computer might require several hundred lines of computer programming language code to work correctly.

The data in a computer's programming language code is written in portions called bits and bytes. A byte is eight bits. Although programmers often work in the larger scale of the byte, bit manipulation gives the programmer the ability to focus on the details of a nibble, which is four bits, or even a single bit. This ability to focus on the details of the data structure gives the programmer access to set a flag or create other operating instructions in the programming without creating extensive libraries of code.

By algorithmically manipulating bits of the programming language, the computer programmer can create a parallel processing system that can offer significant boosts in the performance of a computer program. Although most programming languages make processing each layer of information in sequential order necessary, bit manipulation makes it possible for these functions to be carried out in parallel. By handling the functions in this way, the computer program is able to handle multiple tasks and computations at once, thus improving the speed and functionality of the program.

This improved speed and multitasking ability makes bit manipulation a powerful tool in the world of secure encryption algorithms and error detection algorithms. With bit manipulation, complex algorithms can be created to hide sensitive information from prying eyes. These algorithms can be used to encrypt information and then decrypt it again for retrieval. By manipulating the bits of code in the programming language, developers can even create programs that can detect vulnerabilities in their own code within minutes, rather than the many hours or days that this task required in the past.