I find the first code example easier to read and process. However, that's because I've written a fair bit of C code, and so when my brain goes into "C mode", t

I find the first code example easier to read and process. However, that's because I've written a fair bit of C code, and so when my brain goes into "C mode", the symbols &, =, ~, <<, etc. all have clear and unambiguous meanings - whereas ClearBitField does not. Additionally, the pattern ~(foo << bar) is a common C idiom, so beyond the individual symbols, my brain recognizes the whole pattern so it's "semantically compressed" (easier to think about) for me. This would not be the case for a beginner. Which style is better depends on an individual's preferences and experiences - there's no "right" answer. This is a stellar example of one of the many reasons why code-as-text is a huge mistake - because structure and representation are conflated and coupled together. A sanely written programming language represents code as code objects, and you can configure those code objects to be displayed however you like, whether that's baz &= ~(foo << bar) or ClearBitField(baz, 1, bar).