juniorBit Manipulation
How to check if the i-th bit is set?
Updated Apr 28, 2026
Short answer
Right shift and check LSB: (num >> i) & 1.
Deep explanation
Bit manipulation at the hardware level is faster than arithmetic. Right shift and check LSB: (num >> i) & 1. This is fundamental for low-level optimization.
Real-world example
Flag management in simple game engines.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting that bitwise operators have lower precedence than comparison operators.
Follow-up questions
- What is 1 << 3?