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bit bashing
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bit bashing /n./ (alt. `bit diddling' or bit
twiddling) Term used to describe any of several kinds of low-level
programming characterized by manipulation of bit, flag,
nybble, 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 flavors
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.
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