BitFriendly

BitFriendly makes it easier to work with bitwise operations or bit shifts in Javascript on arbitrarily sized binary numbers, allowing more freedom than the built-in 32-bit numbers for fun and profit. ;)

Installation

The preferred method of installation is using npm:

$ npm install bitfriendly --save

To install BitFriendly temporarily and not add it to the dependencies list:

$ npm install bitfriendly --no-save

You can also download the latest zip file or copy and use the Javascript file directly.

Features

• Binary numbers of arbitrary size
• Conventional bitwise operations and bit shifts
• More binary maths coming soon...

Usage

// First, require the library, this returns a object with two functions -
// "bitArray(vals)" for constructing an array of boolean values to represent our binary number...
// and "operate(arr)" for carrying out bitwise operations and bit shifts
const lib = require("./src/index.js");
 
// Pure strings and arrays of mixed 1, 0, true, false are allowed for constructor
const binaryNumberFromString = lib.bitArray("100101");
console.log(binaryNumberFromString);
 
const binaryNumberFromMixedArray = lib.bitArray([1, false, false, true, "0", 1]);
console.log(binaryNumberFromMixedArray);
 
console.log(lib.operate(binaryNumberFromString).eql(binaryNumberFromMixedArray).toString());
 
// We can also alias the function for cleaner code
const bin = lib.bitArray;
const op = lib.operate;
 
// Now let's do some math!
const a = bin("11011101");
const b = bin("01000100");
 
const aPlusB = op(a).add(b);
// toString() converts the boolean array to a string consists of 0's and 1's
console.log(aPlusB.toString());
 
const awesome = aNotPlusBThenRotateToRightWithCarry = op(a).not().add(b).rcr();
console.log(awesome.toString());
 
const thenXorB = awesome.xor(b);
console.log(thenXorB.toString());
 
// More operators and toString(options) or toInt() functions are being added! ;)

Why Create BitFriendly?

It's fun to explore the binary world. BitFriendly utilizes Javascript arrays and booleans instead of real Javascript binary numbers, so it's not speedy at all, but it's much more flexible. BitFriendly is created for my own need for implementing a Javascript simulator of the Minimal Machine (MIMA) (see MIMA Aufgaben and MIMA Simulator), which is used in the computer engineering lectures at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Project Status

The current version of BitFriendly supports these operations - AND, OR, XOR, NOT, EQL and ADD, as well as one kind of bit shift RCR (Rotate with Carry to the Right). There will also be more algorithmic operators like subtraction and division, together with more bit shift options. More interaction friendly toString and toInt functions are coming too.

License

BitFriendly is distributed under the MIT License. For more information, read the file LICENSE.