[= B =]

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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