Course description

This short course expands the motivations behind bit-shifting operations in the context of retro game programming. In just 1 hour, you'll understand the math behind shifting bits and learn when and why to use them in your code.

bit shifting tutorial
This short course is a good option for those who want to try my teaching style before enrolling in other courses.

About the instructor

gustavo pezzi

Gustavo Pezzi is a university lecturer in London, UK. He has won multiple education awards as a teacher and is also the founder of pikuma.com.

Gustavo teaches fundamentals of computer science and mathematics; his academic path includes institutions such as Pittsburg State University, City University of London, and University of Oxford.

teaching certification
higher education academy
pgclt teaching certification
bpp university award

Course content

1.5 hours total length 5 Chapters Last updated January 2023
  • Motivations & Learning Outcomes
  • Numbers and Positional Notation
  • Multiplication in Base-10
  • Division in Base-10
  • Multiplication in Base-2
  • Division in Base-2
  • Processor Instructions
  • Code Example
  • Wolfenstein 3D Code
  • Quiz: Coding and Bit-shifting
  • Arithmetic Shift vs. Logical Shift
  • Relevance and Modern Applications of Bit-shifting
  • Conclusion and Moving Forward

What students are saying

4.93
5 star
95.5%
4 star
2.3%
3 star
2.3%
2 star
0.0%
1 star
0.0%
Angel Ortiz
Graphics Programmer @ Rockstar Games
"Okay for completely new beginners. Found this very thin content-wise, but I'm very much not the target audience for this course, so I gave this three stars because I imagine it has some value if you've never seen this operation before. However I think that no discussion of bitshift operations makes any sense unless you talk about flags. Bitmasks / Flags are still in use widely and are probably the most common use of bitshifting that a programmer will see these days, so their omission feels pretty jarring."
21 Aug 2023
Filipe Araujo
Senior Technical Artist
"Excellent content! First course I've watched here on Pikuma, Gustavo explains things visually and in a very methodical way."
25 Jan 2023
"Great Course! Great explanation of what can be a tricky thing to get used to."
25 Sep 2022
Hyung Jin Kim
"PIKUMA is the best!"
31 Aug 2022
Jeffrey Shaffer
Associate Professor at Shizuoka University
"Very Clear and Easy to Understand. Thanks, Gustavo! Your explanations and examples are always clear and easy to understand. I heartily recommend any (or ALL) of Gustavo's courses!"
31 Aug 2022

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