Checking whether a number is positive or negative using bitwise operators

Question

I can check whether a number is odd/even using bitwise operators. Can I check whether a number is positive/zero/negative without using any conditional statements/operators l

Answer 1

When you're sure about the size of an integer (assuming 16-bit int):

bool is_negative = (unsigned) signed_int_value >> 15;

When you are unsure of the size of integers:

bool is_negative = (unsigned) signed_int_value >> (sizeof(int)*8)-1; //where 8 is bits

The unsigned keyword is optional.