class template
<bitset>

std::bitset

template <size_t N> class bitset;
Bitset
A bitset stores bits (elements with only two possible values: 0 or 1, true or false, ...).

The class emulates an array of bool elements, but optimized for space allocation: generally, each element occupies only one bit (which, on most systems, is eight times less than the smallest elemental type: char).

Each bit position can be accessed individually: for example, for a given bitset named foo, the expression foo[3] accesses its fourth bit, just like a regular array accesses its elements. But because no elemental type is a single bit in most C++ environments, the individual elements are accessed as special references type (see bitset::reference).

Bitsets have the feature of being able to be constructed from and converted to both integer values and binary strings (see its constructor and members to_ulong and to_string). They can also be directly inserted and extracted from streams in binary format (see applicable operators).

The size of a bitset is fixed at compile-time (determined by its template parameter). For a class that also optimizes for space allocation and allows for dynamic resizing, see the bool specialization of vector (vector<bool>).

Template parameters

N
Size of the bitset, in terms of number of bits.
It is returned by member function bitset::size.
size_t is an unsigned integral type.

Member types


Member functions


Bit access


Bit operations


Bitset operations


Non-member function overloads


Non-member class specializations