bitvec-1.1.5.0: README.md
# bitvec [](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/bitvec) [](https://www.stackage.org/lts/package/bitvec) [](https://www.stackage.org/nightly/package/bitvec)
A newtype over `Bool` with a better `Vector` instance: 8x less memory, up to 3500x faster.
The [`vector`](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/vector)
package represents unboxed arrays of `Bool`s
spending 1 byte (8 bits) per boolean.
This library provides a newtype wrapper `Bit` and a custom instance
of an unboxed `Vector`, which packs bits densely,
achieving an __8x smaller memory footprint.__
The performance stays mostly the same;
the most significant degradation happens for random writes
(up to 10% slower).
On the other hand, for certain bulk bit operations
`Vector Bit` is up to 3500x faster than `Vector Bool`.
## Thread safety
* `Data.Bit` is faster, but writes and flips are not thread-safe.
This is because naive updates are not atomic:
they read the whole word from memory,
then modify a bit, then write the whole word back.
Concurrently modifying non-intersecting slices of the same underlying array
may also lead to unexpected results, since they can share a word in memory.
* `Data.Bit.ThreadSafe` is slower (usually 10-20%),
but writes and flips are thread-safe.
Additionally, concurrently modifying non-intersecting slices of the same underlying array
works as expected. However, operations that affect multiple elements are not
guaranteed to be atomic.
## Quick start
Consider the following (very naive) implementation of
[the sieve of Eratosthenes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_of_Eratosthenes). It returns a vector with `True`
at prime indices and `False` at composite indices.
```haskell
import Control.Monad
import Control.Monad.ST
import qualified Data.Vector.Unboxed as U
import qualified Data.Vector.Unboxed.Mutable as MU
eratosthenes :: U.Vector Bool
eratosthenes = runST $ do
let len = 100
sieve <- MU.replicate len True
MU.write sieve 0 False
MU.write sieve 1 False
forM_ [2 .. floor (sqrt (fromIntegral len))] $ \p -> do
isPrime <- MU.read sieve p
when isPrime $
forM_ [2 * p, 3 * p .. len - 1] $ \i ->
MU.write sieve i False
U.unsafeFreeze sieve
```
We can switch from `Bool` to `Bit` just by adding newtype constructors:
```haskell
import Data.Bit
import Control.Monad
import Control.Monad.ST
import qualified Data.Vector.Unboxed as U
import qualified Data.Vector.Unboxed.Mutable as MU
eratosthenes :: U.Vector Bit
eratosthenes = runST $ do
let len = 100
sieve <- MU.replicate len (Bit True)
MU.write sieve 0 (Bit False)
MU.write sieve 1 (Bit False)
forM_ [2 .. floor (sqrt (fromIntegral len))] $ \p -> do
Bit isPrime <- MU.read sieve p
when isPrime $
forM_ [2 * p, 3 * p .. len - 1] $ \i ->
MU.write sieve i (Bit False)
U.unsafeFreeze sieve
```
The `Bit`-based implementation requires 8x less memory to store
the vector. For large sizes it allows to crunch more data in RAM
without swapping. For smaller arrays it helps to fit into
CPU caches.
```haskell
> listBits eratosthenes
[2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,41,43,47,53,59,61,67,71,73,79,83,89,97]
```
There are several high-level helpers, digesting bits in bulk,
which makes them up to 64x faster than the respective counterparts
for `Vector Bool`. One can query the population count (popcount)
of a vector (giving us [the prime-counting function](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime-counting_function)):
```haskell
> countBits eratosthenes
25
```
And vice versa, query an address of the _n_-th set bit
(which corresponds to the _n_-th prime number here):
```haskell
> nthBitIndex (Bit True) 10 eratosthenes
Just 29
```
One may notice that the order of the inner traversal by `i`
does not matter and get tempted to run it in several parallel threads.
In this case it is vital to switch from `Data.Bit` to `Data.Bit.ThreadSafe`,
because the former is not thread-safe with regards to writes.
There is a moderate performance penalty (usually 10-20%)
for using the thread-safe interface.
## Sets
Bit vectors can be used as a blazingly fast representation of sets,
as long as their elements are `Enum`eratable and sufficiently dense,
leaving `IntSet` far behind.
For example, consider three possible representations of a set of `Word16`:
* As an `IntSet` with a readily available `union` function.
* As a 64k-long unboxed `Vector Bool`, implementing union as `zipWith (||)`.
* As a 64k-long unboxed `Vector Bit`, implementing union as `zipBits (.|.)`.
When the `simd` flag is enabled,
according to our benchmarks (see `bench` folder),
the union of `Vector Bit` evaluates magnitudes faster
than the union of not-too-sparse `IntSet`s
and stunningly outperforms `Vector Bool`.
Here are benchmarks on MacBook M2:
```
union
16384
Vector Bit:
61.2 ns ± 3.2 ns
Vector Bool:
96.1 μs ± 4.5 μs, 1570.84x
IntSet:
2.15 μs ± 211 ns, 35.06x
32768
Vector Bit:
143 ns ± 7.4 ns
Vector Bool:
225 μs ± 16 μs, 1578.60x
IntSet:
4.34 μs ± 429 ns, 30.39x
65536
Vector Bit:
249 ns ± 18 ns
Vector Bool:
483 μs ± 28 μs, 1936.42x
IntSet:
8.77 μs ± 835 ns, 35.18x
131072
Vector Bit:
322 ns ± 30 ns
Vector Bool:
988 μs ± 53 μs, 3071.83x
IntSet:
17.6 μs ± 1.6 μs, 54.79x
262144
Vector Bit:
563 ns ± 27 ns
Vector Bool:
2.00 ms ± 112 μs, 3555.36x
IntSet:
36.8 μs ± 3.3 μs, 65.40x
```
## Binary polynomials
Binary polynomials are polynomials with coefficients modulo 2.
Their applications include coding theory and cryptography.
While one can successfully implement them with the [`poly`](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/poly) package,
operating on `UPoly Bit`,
this package provides even faster arithmetic routines
exposed via the `F2Poly` data type and its instances.
```haskell
> :set -XBinaryLiterals
> -- (1 + x) * (1 + x + x^2) = 1 + x^3 (mod 2)
> 0b11 * 0b111 :: F2Poly
F2Poly {unF2Poly = [1,0,0,1]}
```
Use `fromInteger` / `toInteger` to convert binary polynomials
from `Integer` to `F2Poly` and back.
## Package flags
* Flag `simd`, enabled by default.
Use a C SIMD implementation for the ultimate performance of `zipBits`, `invertBits` and `countBits`.
## Similar packages
* [`bv`](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/bv) and
[`bv-little`](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/bv-little)
do not offer mutable vectors.
* [`array`](https://hackage.haskell.org/package/array)
is memory-efficient for `Bool`, but lacks
a handy `Vector` interface and is not thread-safe.
## Additional resources
* __Bit vectors without compromises__, Haskell Love, 31.07.2020:
[slides](https://github.com/Bodigrim/my-talks/raw/master/haskelllove2020/slides.pdf), [video](https://youtu.be/HhpH8DKFBls).