Bit Manipulation
Noun · Development
Definitions
The use of bitwise operations such as shifts, masks, and logical operators to inspect, set, clear, or combine bits inside numeric values. Bit manipulation is common in systems code, parsers, codecs, graphics, protocol handling, and performance-sensitive algorithms.
In plain English: Working directly with the individual bits inside numbers or binary data.
Example: "The compression routine relied on bit manipulation to pack variable-length codes tightly into the output buffer."