bitwise most significant set bit

Question

I want to find the most significant bit that is set to 1. I have tried every possible way from & to ORing all of the bits from 1 t

Answer 1

Though there is an answer accepted, I have another ways to share which I think is easier.

If you want to use bitwise operations, here is the way. Basically, I am right-shifting the integer until it become zero. No mask is required.

private static int mostSignificantBit(int myInt){
    int i = 0;
    while (myInt != 0) {
        ++i;
        myInt >>>= 1;
    }
    return i;
}

Another way is calculate it mathematically:

private static int mostSignificantBit(int myInt){
    if (myInt == 0) return 0;    // special handling for 0
    if (myInt < 0) return 32;    // special handling for -ve

    return (int)(Math.log(myInt)/Math.log(2)) +1;
}