What is "bit field"

n. a field containing only binary characters

A bit field is a term used in computer programming to store multiple, logical, neighboring bits, where each of the sets of bits, and single bits can be addressed. A bit field is most commonly used to represent integral types of known, fixed bit-width.

For example, the first bit in a bit field can be used to determine the state of a particular attribute associated with the bit field.

Within microprocessors and other logic devices, flags (collection of bit fields) are commonly used to control or indicate the intermediate or final state or outcome of different operations. Microprocessors typically have, for example, a status register that is composed of such flags, and the flags are used to indicate various post-operation conditions, such as when there has been an arithmetic overflow. The flags can be utilized in subsequent operations, such as in processing conditional jump instructions. For example, a je (Jump if Equal) instruction in the x86 assembly language will result in a jump if the Z (zero) flag was set by some previous operation.

A bit field is distinguished from a bit array in that the latter is used to store a large set of bits indexed by integers and is often wider than any integral type supported by the language. Bit fields, on the other hand, typically fit within a machine word, and the denotation of bits is independent of their numerical index.