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.
