How do you randomly zero a bit in an integer?

Question

Updated with newer answer and better test

Let\'s say I have the number 382 which is 101111110.

How could I randomly turn a bit which is not 0 to

Answer 1

Count all the 1's in your integer. Choose a random number using your favorite random number generator between 1 and the first count. Create a mask for Random-th 1 in your integer. OR your integer with the mask.

Answer 2

Try the following code

public static int ChangeOneBit(int data)
{
    if (data == 0)
    {
        return data;
    }

    var random = new Random();
    int bit = 0;
    do
    {
        var shift = random.Next(31);
        bit = data >> shift;
        bit = bit & 0x00000001;
    } while (bit == 0);
    var ret = data & (~(1 << bit));
    return ret;
}

Answer 3

OK:

    private static Random rnd = new Random((int)DateTime.Now.Ticks);

    private static Int32 SetRandomTrueBitToFalse(Int32 p)
    {
        List<int> trueBits = new List<int>();
        for (int i = 0; i < 31; i++)
        {
            if ((p>>i&1) == 1){
                trueBits.Add(i);
            }
        }
        if (trueBits.Count>0){
            int index = rnd.Next(0, trueBits.Count);
            return p & ~(1 << trueBits[index]);
        }
        return p;
    }

But I would love to know: Why do you need/want this?

Answer 4

EDIT : fixed to take into account the constraint "a bit which is not 0"

Pick a random number N between 0 and 31 (for a 32 bit integer), and use it to generate a bitmask by shifting 1 N times to the left. Repeat until bit N is not 0 in the original number. Negate the bitmask to have only 1 bit set to 0 and combine it with your original number with the & operator :

private int ClearOneBit(int originalValue)
{
    if (originalValue == 0)
        return 0; // All bits are already set to 0, nothing to do

    Random rnd = new Random();
    int mask = 0;
    do
    {
        int n = rnd.Next(32);
        mask = 1 << n;
    } while ((mask & originalValue) == 0); // check that this bit is not 0

    int newValue = originalValue & ~mask; // clear this bit
    return newValue;
}

Answer 5

EDIT: Fixed some logic.

BitArray bits = new BitArray(new int[] { number } );

randomIndex = new Random().Next(32);

// check if bit is true, if not, goes to next bit and wraps around as well.
for(int i = 0; i < 32; i++)
{
    if(bits[randomIndex] == false)
    {
    randomIndex = (randomIndex + 1) % 32;
    }
    else
    {
        break;
    }
}

bits[randomIndex] = false;

Answer 6

You can generalize this by using BitArray.

public static BitArray FlipRandomTrueBit(BitArray bits)
{
    List<int> trueBits = new List<int>();

    for (int i = 0; i < bits.Count; i++)
        if (bits[i])
            trueBits.Add(i);

    if (trueBits.Count > 0)
    {
        int index = rnd.Next(0, trueBits.Count);
        bits[trueBits[index]] = false;
    }

    return bits;
}

However then you will have to write helper functions for simple data types.

public static int FlipRandomTrueBit(int input)
{
    BitArray bits = new BitArray(new int[] { input });
    BitArray flipedBits = FlipRandomTrueBit(bits);

    byte[] bytes = new byte[4];
    flipedBits.CopyTo(bytes, 0);

    int result = BitConverter.ToInt32(bytes, 0);
    return result;
}

If your using a large bit array you could save memory by iterating twice.

public static void FlipRandomTrueBitLowMem(ref BitArray bits)
{
    int trueBits = 0;

    for (int i = 0; i < bits.Count; i++)
        if (bits[i])
            trueBits++;

    if (trueBits > 0)
    {
        int flip = rnd.Next(0, trueBits);

        for (int i = 0; i < bits.Count; i++)
        {
            if (bits[i])
            {
                if (flip == 0)
                {
                    bits[i] = false;
                    break;
                }

                flip--;
            }
        }
    }
}

Test Program.

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

namespace bitarray
{
    class Program
    {
        private static Random rnd = new Random((int)DateTime.Now.Ticks);

        public static BitArray FlipRandomTrueBit(BitArray bits)
        {
            List<int> trueBits = new List<int>();

            for (int i = 0; i < bits.Count; i++)
                if (bits[i])
                    trueBits.Add(i);

            if (trueBits.Count > 0)
            {
                int index = rnd.Next(0, trueBits.Count);
                bits[trueBits[index]] = false;
            }

            return bits;
        }

        public static int FlipRandomTrueBit(int input)
        {
            BitArray bits = new BitArray(new int[] { input });
            BitArray flipedBits = FlipRandomTrueBit(bits);

            byte[] bytes = new byte[4];
            flipedBits.CopyTo(bytes, 0);

            int result = BitConverter.ToInt32(bytes, 0);
            return result;
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            int test = 382;
            for (int n = 0; n < 200; n++)
            {
                int result = FlipRandomTrueBit(test);
                Console.WriteLine(result);
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}