Count number of 1's in binary representation

Question

Efficient way to count number of 1s in the binary representation of a number in O(1) if you have enough memory to play with. This is an interview question I found on an onli

Answer 1

The following is a C solution using bit operators:

int numberOfOneBitsInInteger(int input) {
  int numOneBits = 0;

  int currNum = input;
  while (currNum != 0) {
    if ((currNum & 1) == 1) {
      numOneBits++;
    }
    currNum = currNum >> 1;
  }
  return numOneBits;
}

The following is a Java solution using powers of 2:

public static int numOnesInBinary(int n) {

  if (n < 0) return -1;

  int j = 0;
  while ( n > Math.pow(2, j)) j++;

  int result = 0;
  for (int i=j; i >=0; i--){
    if (n >= Math.pow(2, i)) {
        n = (int) (n - Math.pow(2,i));
        result++;    
    }
  }

  return result;
}