Position of lowest bit set

Code
01: const unsigned int MultiplyDeBruijnBitPosition[32] =
02: {
03:   // precomputed lookup table
04:   0,  1, 28,  2, 29, 14, 24,  3, 30, 22, 20, 15, 25, 17,  4,  8,
05:   31, 27, 13, 23, 21, 19, 16,  7, 26, 12, 18,  6, 11,  5, 10,  9
06: };
07:
08: unsigned int lowestBitSet(unsigned int x)
09: {
10:   // leave only lowest bit
11:   x  &= -int(x);
12:   // DeBruijn constant
13:   x  *= 0x077CB531;
14:   // get upper 5 bits
15:   x >>= 27;
16:   // convert to actual position
17:   return MultiplyDeBruijnBitPosition[x];
18: }
19:
20: unsigned int lowestBitSetSimple(unsigned int x)
21: {
22:   // x=0 is not properly handled by while-loop
23:   if (x == 0)
24:     return 0;
25:
26:   unsigned int result = 0;
27:   while ((x & 1) == 0)
28:   {
29:     x >>= 1;
30:     result++;
31:   }
32:
33:   return result;
34: }
 bits.stephan-brumme.com

Explanation A negative number is usually represented the two-complement: −x = not(x)+1
Therefore formula x & −x deletes all but lowest bit set (line 11).

Now x is converted into a power of 2 and there are obviously only 32 possibilities left.
When multiplied by the DeBruijn constant 0x077CB531 (line 13), the upper 5 bits are unique for each power of 2.
A small lookup table resolves the actual position of the lowest bit (line 1 to 6, line 17).
The overall performance of this algorithm is mainly determined by the lookup table and
the numbers given below are based on full cache hits.

Note: DeBruijn sequences are extensively explained in the Wikipedia, too.

The simple version performs surprisingly well for randomly distributed input:
for 50% of all integers, result will be 0 and for further 25% result will be 1, therefore the loop is escaped pretty early.
When numbers with long spans of zeros are processed, timings become significantly worse.
The observed break-even was lowestBitSet(32) on a Pentium D, your mileage may vary.

The fastest way on almost all modern x86/x64 CPU bases on the built-in BSF instruction.

Restrictions • designed for 32 bits

Performance + Intel® Pentium™ D:
• lowestBitSet: ≈ 18 cycles per number
• simple(1,2): ≈ 4 cycles per number
• simple(mix): ≈ 39 cycles per number
• BSF: ≈ 3 cycles per number

+ Intel® Core™ 2:
• lowestBitSet: ≈ 10.5 cycles per number
• simple(1,2): ≈ 2.5 cycles per number
• simple(mix): ≈ 21 cycles per number
• BSF: ≈ 1 cycle per number

+ Intel® Core™ i7:
• lowestBitSet: ≈ 10.5 cycles per number
• simple(1,2): ≈ 2.5 cycles per number
• simple(mix): ≈ 21 cycles per number
• BSF: ≈ 1 cycle per number
Performance Chart
CPU cycles
(full optimization,
lower values are better)

Assembler Output
lowestBitSet:
compiler: Visual C++ 2008
in: ecx ← x
out: eax → result
01:   ; x &= -x
02:   mov ecx, eax
03:   neg ecx
04:   and ecx, eax
05:   ; x *= 0x077CB531
06:   imul ecx, 077CB531h
07:   ; x >>= 27
08:   shr ecx, 27
09:   ; return MultiplyDeBruijnBitPosition[x];
10:   mov eax, MultiplyDeBruijnBitPosition[ecx*4]

lowestBitSetSimple:
compiler: Visual C++ 2008
in: ecx ← x
out: eax → result
01:   ; result = 0
02:   xor eax, eax
03:   ; if (x == 0) return 0
04:   test ecx, ecx
05:   je $finish
06:   ; while ((x & 1) == 0)
07:   test cl, 1
08:   jne $finish
09: $scanLoop:
10:   ; x >>= 1
11:   shr ecx, 1
12:   ; result++
13:   inc eax
14:   test cl, 1
15:   je $scanLoop
16: $finish:
 bits.stephan-brumme.com

Download The full source code including a test program is available for download.

References http://graphics.stanford.edu/~seander/bithacks.html

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  7. Detects zero bytes inside a 32 bit integer
  8. Endianess
  9. Extend bit width
  10. Float inverse square root approximation
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  12. Is power of two
  13. Minimum / maximum of integers
  14. Parity
  15. Position of lowest bit set
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  17. Sign comparison
  18. Sign of a 32 bit integer
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... or go to the index