How do I extract specific 'n' bits of a 32-bit unsigned integer in C?

Question

Could anyone tell me as to how to extract \'n\' specific bits from a 32-bit unsigned integer in C.

For example, say I want the first 17 bits of the 32-bit value;

Answer 1

If you need the X last bits of your integer, use a binary mask :

unsigned last8bitsvalue=(32 bit integer) & 0xFF
unsigned last16bitsvalue=(32 bit integer) & 0xFFFF