bitfieldien

Bitfieldien is a theoretical data construct used to describe a family of compact bitfields that include an explicit descriptor set describing each field's name, position, and size. The term combines bitfield with the suffix -ien to denote a class of related structures rather than a single field.

Components: A bitfieldien consists of a header containing a collection of field descriptors and a data payload where bitfields are packed consecutively. Each descriptor specifies the field name, bit offset, width, and optional type information such as signed, unsigned, or an enumeration. Endianness and alignment rules govern how bits map to bytes.

Access and mutation: Accessors apply masks and shifts to extract a field value from the payload; mutators modify the appropriate bits and may update metadata if the layout is dynamic. A bitfieldien can support serialization to and from byte arrays and may offer validations against its descriptor set.

Applications and constraints: Proposed for scenarios where many small flags or enumerations must be stored efficiently, such as embedded protocols or compact configuration records. Pros include memory efficiency and explicit schema; cons include higher complexity, potential portability issues, and overhead from maintaining descriptors.

See also: Bitfield, Bitmask, Bit-packed data, Metadata-driven data structures.