bitterset

bitterset aims to be a fast & simple set of bits. The set will automatically grow and shrink to accomodate the largest significant bit. It has no dependencies.

npm install --save bitterset

Examples

Getting, setting, and clearing values on the set:

let bs = bitterset();

// Set some individual bits.
bs.set(0);
bs.set(17);
bs.set(46);

// Get the value of a bit.
bs.get(0); // true
bs.get(8); // false

// Clear an individual bit.
bs.clear(46);

// Clear all of the bits.
bs.clear();

Iterating over the set:

let bs = bitterset();

bs.set(0);
bs.set(5);
bs.set(9);

for (let i of bs.forwards(true)) console.log(i); // 0 5 9
for (let i of bs.backwards(true)) console.log(i); // 9 5 0

Combining multiple sets:

let a = bitterset();
a.set(0);
a.set(1);

let b = bitterset();
b.set(1);
b.set(2);

let c = bitterset();
c.set(2);
c.set(3);

a.or(b);     // a is now {0,1,2}
a.and(b);    // a is now {1,2}
a.xor(c);    // a is now {1,3}
a.andnot(c); // a is now {1}

API

bitterset()

Create a new bitset.

bitterset#get(index)

Get the value of a bit.

bitterset#set(index)

Set a bit to true.

bitterset#clear(index)

Set one or all of the bits to false.

bitterset#flip(index)

Flip the value of a bit.

bitterset#forwards(value, start = 0)

Returns a forward iterator over the bitset that will yield the next set or unset bit. If you're iterating over set bits, when the iterator is done it will return -1. If you're iterating over unset bits, the iterator will continue indefinitely.

bitterset#backwards(value, start = length)

Returns a backwards iterator over the bitset that will yield the next set or unset bit. When you reach the beginning of the set, the iterator will return -1.

bitterset#length()

Returns the length of the bitset (the index of the highest set bit, plus one).

bitterset#cardinality()

Returns the cardinality of the bitset (the number of set bits).

bitterset#cull()

Remove any unused words from the end of the bitset.

bitterset#or(that)

Perform a logical OR against this bitset.

bitterset#and(that)

Perform a logical AND against this bitset.

bitterset#andnot(that)

Perform a logical AND against this bitset, with the complement of the given bitset.

bitterset#xor(that)

Perform a logical XOR against this bitset.

Performance

There are a few performance tests of iteration in the perf folder. Performance is decent: a densly packed bitset (1/10 bits set) has ~5 million iterations per second. A sparsely packed bitset (1/10000 bits set) has ~3 million iterations per second. A worst case where 1/1000000 bits has only 200 iterations per second.

Measurements were taken on a 2015 Macbook Pro. Any improvements are welcome!

Testing

bitterset uses tape for testing. Simply run npm test in the project directory.