This is a collection of small programming tricks that I have come across over many years. Most of them will work only on computers that represent integers in two's-complement form. Although a 32-bit machine is assumed when the register length is relevant, most of the tricks are easily adapted to machines with other register sizes.

This book does not deal with large tricks such as sophisticated sorting and compiler optimization techniques. Rather, it deals with small tricks that usually involve individual computer words or instructions, such as counting the number of 1-bits in a word. Such tricks often use a mixture of arithmetic and logical instructions.

It is assumed throughout that integer overflow interrupts have been masked off, so they cannot occur. C, Fortran, and even Java programs run in this environment, but Pascal and ADA users beware! The presentation is informal. Proofs are given only when the algorithm is not obvious, and sometimes not even then. The methods use computer arithmetic, "floor" functions, mixtures of arithmetic and logical operations, and so on. Proofs in this domain are often difficult and awkward to express. To reduce typographical errors and oversights, many of the algorithms have been executed. This is why they are given in a real programming language, even though, like every computer language, it has some ugly features. C is used for the high-level language because it is widely known, it allows the straightforward mixture of integer and bit-string operations, and C compilers that produce high-quality object code are available.

Occasionally, machine language is used. It employs a three-address format, mainly for ease of readability. The assembly language used is that of a fictitious machine that is representative of today's RISC computers.

Branch-free code is favored. This is because on many computers, branches slow down instruction fetching and inhibit executing instructions in parallel. Another problem with branches is that they may inhibit compiler optimizations such as instruction scheduling, commoning, and register allocation. That is, the compiler may be more effective at these optimizations with a program that consists of a few large basic blocks rather than many small ones.