Most Efficient Algorithm for Bit Reversal ( from M

Question

What is the best algorithm to achieve the following:

0010 0000 => 0000 0100

The conversion is from MSB->LSB to LSB->MSB. All bits must be reversed; that is, this is not endianness-swapping.

Answer 1

This is for 32 bit, we need to change the size if we consider 8 bits.

    void bitReverse(int num)
    {
        int num_reverse = 0;
        int size = (sizeof(int)*8) -1;
        int i=0,j=0;
        for(i=0,j=size;i<=size,j>=0;i++,j--)
        {
            if((num >> i)&1)
            {
                num_reverse = (num_reverse | (1<<j));
            }
        }
        printf("\n rev num = %d\n",num_reverse);
    }

Reading the input integer "num" in LSB->MSB order and storing in num_reverse in MSB->LSB order.

Answer 2

You might want to use the standard template library. It might be slower than the above mentioned code. However, it seems to me clearer and easier to understand.

 #include<bitset>
 #include<iostream>


 template<size_t N>
 const std::bitset<N> reverse(const std::bitset<N>& ordered)
 {
      std::bitset<N> reversed;
      for(size_t i = 0, j = N - 1; i < N; ++i, --j)
           reversed[j] = ordered[i];
      return reversed;
 };


 // test the function
 int main()
 {
      unsigned long num; 
      const size_t N = sizeof(num)*8;

      std::cin >> num;
      std::cout << std::showbase << std::hex;
      std::cout << "ordered  = " << num << std::endl;
      std::cout << "reversed = " << reverse<N>(num).to_ulong()  << std::endl;
      std::cout << "double_reversed = " << reverse<N>(reverse<N>(num)).to_ulong() << std::endl;  
 }