C# Bit Manipulation

Posted in Software

This post is a collection of C# method extensions that I have written recently to help me do bit manipulations on unsigned integers. These methods allow you to set, clear, toggle, and write bits. I’ve also added a read method for testing bits.

public static UInt32 SetBit(this UInt32 Value, byte bit)
{
    if (bit >= 32) {
        throw new ArgumentException("bit must be between 0 and 31");
    }
 
    Value |= (UInt32)(1U << bit);
    return Value;
}
 
public static UInt32 ClearBit(this UInt32 Value, byte bit)
{
    if (bit >= 32) {
        throw new ArgumentException("bit must be between 0 and 31");
    }
 
    Value &= ~(UInt32)(1U << bit);
    return Value;
}
 
public static UInt32 WriteBit(this UInt32 Value, byte bit, bool state)
{
    if (bit >= 32) {
        throw new ArgumentException("bit must be between 0 and 31");
    }
 
    if (state) {
        Value |= (UInt32)(1U << bit);
    } else {
        Value &= ~(UInt32)(1U << bit);
    }
 
    return Value;
}
 
public static UInt32 ToggleBit(this UInt32 Value, byte bit)
{
    if (bit >= 32) {
        throw new ArgumentException("bit must be between 0 and 31");
    }
 
    if ((Value & (1 << bit)) == (1 << bit)) {
        Value &= ~(UInt32)(1U << bit);
    } else {
        Value |= (UInt32)(1U << bit);
    }
 
    return Value;
}
 
public static bool ReadBit(this UInt32 Value, byte bit)
{
    if (bit >= 32) {
        throw new ArgumentException("bit must be between 0 and 31");
    }
 
    return ((Value & (1 << bit)) == (1 << bit));
}

I also added wrappers so these methods are avaliable UInt16 and Byte types.