C# - BitArray Class

The BitArray class manages a compact array of bit values, which are represented as Booleans, where true indicates that the bit is on (1) and false indicates the bit is off (0).

It is used when you need to store the bits but do not know the number of bits in advance. You can access items from the BitArray collection by using an integer index, which starts from zero.

Methods and Properties of the BitArray Class

The following table lists some of the commonly used properties of the BitArray class −

Sr.No.	Property & Description
1	Count Gets the number of elements contained in the BitArray.
2	IsReadOnly Gets a value indicating whether the BitArray is read-only.
3	Item Gets or sets the value of the bit at a specific position in the BitArray.
4	Length Gets or sets the number of elements in the BitArray.

The following table lists some of the commonly used methods of the BitArray class −

Sr.No.	Method & Description
1	public BitArray And(BitArray value); Performs the bitwise AND operation on the elements in the current BitArray against the corresponding elements in the specified BitArray.
2	public bool Get(int index); Gets the value of the bit at a specific position in the BitArray.
3	public BitArray Not(); Inverts all the bit values in the current BitArray, so that elements set to true are changed to false, and elements set to false are changed to true.
4	public BitArray Or(BitArray value); Performs the bitwise OR operation on the elements in the current BitArray against the corresponding elements in the specified BitArray.
5	public void Set(int index, bool value); Sets the bit at a specific position in the BitArray to the specified value.
6	public void SetAll(bool value); Sets all bits in the BitArray to the specified value.
7	public BitArray Xor(BitArray value); Performs the bitwise eXclusive OR operation on the elements in the current BitArray against the corresponding elements in the specified BitArray.

Example

The following example demonstrates the use of BitArray class −

Live Demo

using System;
using System.Collections;

namespace CollectionsApplication {
   class Program {
      static void Main(string[] args) {
         //creating two  bit arrays of size 8
         BitArray ba1 = new BitArray(8);
         BitArray ba2 = new BitArray(8);
         
         byte[] a = { 60 };
         byte[] b = { 13 };
         
         //storing the values 60, and 13 into the bit arrays
         ba1 = new BitArray(a);
         ba2 = new BitArray(b);
         
         //content of ba1
         Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba1: 60");
         
         for (int i = 0; i < ba1.Count; i++) {
            Console.Write("{0, -6} ", ba1[i]);
         }
         Console.WriteLine();
         
         //content of ba2
         Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba2: 13");
         
         for (int i = 0; i < ba2.Count; i++) {
            Console.Write("{0, -6} ", ba2[i]);
         }
         Console.WriteLine();
         BitArray ba3 = new BitArray(8);
         ba3 = ba1.And(ba2);
         
         //content of ba3
         Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba3 after AND operation: 12");
         
         for (int i = 0; i < ba3.Count; i++) {
            Console.Write("{0, -6} ", ba3[i]);
         }
         Console.WriteLine();
         ba3 = ba1.Or(ba2);
         
         //content of ba3
         Console.WriteLine("Bit array ba3 after OR operation: 61");
         
         for (int i = 0; i < ba3.Count; i++) {
            Console.Write("{0, -6} ", ba3[i]);
         }
         Console.WriteLine();

         Console.ReadKey();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Bit array ba1: 60 
False False True True True True False False 
Bit array ba2: 13
True False True True False False False False 
Bit array ba3 after AND operation: 12
False False True True False False False False 
Bit array ba3 after OR operation: 61
True False True True False False False False

csharp_collections.htm