Bitstring: Difference between revisions

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A bitstring is a sequence of bits. Anything on a discrete computer can be represented by a bitstring. In particular, any discrete computer can be encoded in a bitstring, usually called a software program. Many mathematical structures can also be represented by bitstrings.

While every conceivable type of data in today's memory devices is indeed stored as a sequence of ONs and OFFs or zeros and ones is indeed a string of bits, (ex. '7'₁₀ == '0111'₂) bitstrings in the strict sense are used when grouping and packing boolean flags in a memory-efficient way. The state of one flag can be set or read using a bit mask.

See also: binary system

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-A '''bitstring''' is a sequence of [[bit]]s. Anything on a [[discrete computer]] can be represented by a bitstring. In particular, any discrete computer can be encoded in a bitstring, usually called a [[program]]. Many mathematical structures can also be represented by bitstrings.
+A '''bitstring''' is a sequence of [[bit]]s. Anything on a [[discrete computer]] can be represented by a bitstring. In particular, any discrete computer can be encoded in a bitstring, usually called a [[software program]]. Many mathematical structures can also be represented by bitstrings.
+While every conceivable type of data in today's [[computer memory|memory device]]s is indeed stored as a sequence of ONs and OFFs or zeros and ones is indeed a [[String (computer science)|string]] of bits, (ex. '7'<sub>10</sub> == '0111'<sub>2</sub>) bitstrings in the strict sense are used when grouping and packing [[boolean]] [[Flag (computing)|flag]]s in a memory-efficient way. The state of one flag can be set or read using a [[bit mask]].
+''See also'': [[binary system]]
 [[Category:Information technology]]