Efficient Algorithm for Bit Reversal (from MSB->LSB to LSB->MSB) in C

Question

What is the most efficient algorithm to achieve the following:

0010 0000 => 0000 0100

The conversion is from MSB->LSB to LSB->MSB. All bits

Answer 1

Bit reversal in pseudo code

source -> byte to be reversed b00101100 destination -> reversed, also needs to be of unsigned type so sign bit is not propogated down

copy into temp so original is unaffected, also needs to be of unsigned type so that sign bit is not shifted in automaticaly

bytecopy = b0010110

LOOP8: //do this 8 times test if bytecopy is < 0 (negative)

    set bit8 (msb) of reversed = reversed | b10000000 

else do not set bit8

shift bytecopy left 1 place
bytecopy = bytecopy << 1 = b0101100 result

shift result right 1 place
reversed = reversed >> 1 = b00000000
8 times no then up^ LOOP8
8 times yes then done.