I think that I last had to shift bits in a C program back when WordPerfect (4.2 and 5.1) used an XOR cipher for encryption, and used bit-shifting and (I think)

I think that I last had to shift bits in a C program back when WordPerfect (4.2 and 5.1) used an XOR cipher for encryption, and used bit-shifting and (I think) XOR-ing to give you a 16-bit key for quick rejection of bad passwords. (At least, I think that's what the key was for.) On the other hand, I last read a book in a week last week. It was a novel, not very long or very complex; but it was a book and it took less than a week.