bit bashing
(Also "bit diddling" or bit twiddling). Any of several kinds of low-level
programming characterised by manipulation of bit, flag, nibble, and other
smaller-than-character-sized pieces of data. These include low-level device
control, encryption algorithms, checksum and error-correcting codes, hash
functions, some flavours of graphics programming (see bitblt), and
assembler/compiler code generation. May connote either tedium or a real
technical challenge (more usually the former). "The command decoding for the new
tape driver looks pretty solid but the bit-bashing for the control registers
still has bugs." See also bit bang, mode bit.
Nearby terms:
bisync « bit « bit bang « bit bashing »
bitblt » bit bucket » bit decay
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