C# binary literals

Question

Update

C# 7.0 now has binary literals, which is awesome.

[Flags]
enum Days
{
    None = 0,
    Sunday    = 0b0000001,
    Monday    = 0b0000010,   // 2
    Tuesday   = 0b0000100,   // 4
    Wednesday = 0b0001000,   // 8
    Thursday  = 0b0010000,   // 16
    Friday    = 0b0100000,   // etc.
    Saturday  = 0b1000000,
    Weekend = Saturday | Sunday,
    Weekdays = Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
}

Original Post

Since the topic seems to have turned to declaring bit-based flag values in enums, I thought it would be worth pointing out a handy trick for this sort of thing. The left-shift operator (<<) will allow you to push a bit to a specific binary position. Combine that with the ability to declare enum values in terms of other values in the same class, and you have a very easy-to-read declarative syntax for bit flag enums.

[Flags]
enum Days
{
    None        = 0,
    Sunday      = 1,
    Monday      = 1 << 1,   // 2
    Tuesday     = 1 << 2,   // 4
    Wednesday   = 1 << 3,   // 8
    Thursday    = 1 << 4,   // 16
    Friday      = 1 << 5,   // etc.
    Saturday    = 1 << 6,
    Weekend     = Saturday | Sunday,
    Weekdays    = Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
}

C# 7.0 supports binary literals (and optional digit separators via underscore characters).

An example:

int myValue = 0b0010_0110_0000_0011;

You can also find more information on the Roslyn GitHub page.

Only integer and hex directly, I'm afraid (ECMA 334v4):

9.4.4.2 Integer literals Integer literals are used to write values of types int, uint, long, and ulong. Integer literals have two possible forms: decimal and hexadecimal.

To parse, you can use:

int i = Convert.ToInt32("01101101", 2);

Adding to @StriplingWarrior's answer about bit flags in enums, there's an easy convention you can use in hexadecimal for counting upwards through the bit shifts. Use the sequence 1-2-4-8, move one column to the left, and repeat.

[Flags]
enum Scenery
{
  Trees   = 0x001, // 000000000001
  Grass   = 0x002, // 000000000010
  Flowers = 0x004, // 000000000100
  Cactus  = 0x008, // 000000001000
  Birds   = 0x010, // 000000010000
  Bushes  = 0x020, // 000000100000
  Shrubs  = 0x040, // 000001000000
  Trails  = 0x080, // 000010000000
  Ferns   = 0x100, // 000100000000
  Rocks   = 0x200, // 001000000000
  Animals = 0x400, // 010000000000
  Moss    = 0x800, // 100000000000
}

Scan down starting with the right column and notice the pattern 1-2-4-8 (shift) 1-2-4-8 (shift) ...

---

To answer the original question, I second @Sahuagin's suggestion to use hexadecimal literals. If you're working with binary numbers often enough for this to be a concern, it's worth your while to get the hang of hexadecimal.

If you need to see binary numbers in source code, I suggest adding comments with binary literals like I have above.

You can always create quasi-literals, constants which contain the value you are after:

const int b001 = 1;
const int b010 = 2;
const int b011 = 3;
// etc ...
Debug.Assert((b001 | b010) == b011);

If you use them often then you can wrap them in a static class for re-use.

However, slightliy off-topic, if you have any semantics associated with the bits (known at compile time) I would suggest using an Enum instead:

enum Flags
{ 
    First = 0,
    Second = 1,
    Third = 2,
    SecondAndThird = 3
}
// later ...
Debug.Assert((Flags.Second | Flags.Third) == Flags.SecondAndThird);