Constructing a sequence of bits in java

Question

I'm having trouble getting a bit to work properly in java6...I'm trying to write a compression program that will write bits to a compressed file...so for example a common letter such as "e" might just be the binary sequence "101" in ascii

I think the fileOutputStream.write(int) method is what I'm going to want to accomplish this, but how to I represent a sequence of bits as in int?

Do you need it bit-wise? meaning that you could put 2 'e's into the stream and still have 2 bits left of that byte? then you would need to define how many bits per information etc. Take a look at bit shifting: docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/op3.html — f1sh
– f1sh, Commented Nov 24, 2011 at 16:46

MByD · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-24 16:38:15Z

3

You can use BitSet. And then write a full byte array using FileOutputStream#write(byte\[\]) like that:

fileOutputStream.write(myBitSet.toByteArray());

answered Nov 24, 2011 at 16:38

MByD

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7 Comments

MByD Over a year ago

BTW, I gave links to Java 7 docs, but it is valid in Java 6 as well.

Peter Lawrey Over a year ago

Ummm, that can't be the simplest way to write e to a stream. ;)

SetSlapShot Over a year ago

Im unfamiliar with the (byte[]) notation, and I know Bitsets are vectors, is that a special notation of vectors? EDIT: I just see what I did sorry im silly :P

MByD Over a year ago

@PeterLawrey - of course, but this is a way to "represent a sequence of bits"

MByD Over a year ago

@SetSlapShot - byte[] means byte array.

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Peter Lawrey · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-24 16:43:04Z

0

101 is the ascii value for 'e'

All you have to is write it

FileOutputStream fos =
fos.write('e'); // writes 101 which is the ascii for 'e'

answered Nov 24, 2011 at 16:43

Peter Lawrey

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2 Comments

f1sh Over a year ago

That actually writes '00000101'. Don't know if OP wants that :-/

Peter Lawrey Over a year ago

In binary, but e is (byte) 101 in ascii rather than 0b101

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