2. Applications

Bitwise manipulation are used extensively in computer applications. These include

• Quickly doubling and halving numbers
• Encryption and decryption (key manipulation)
• Serial communication protocols (e.g. SPIB)
• Handling network addresses (e.g. subnet masking)
• Setting - resetting flags (e.g using the Program Status Word in a CPU)
• Sensing flag values
• Data collision detection in networks
• Graphics manipulation
• Compression algorithms