I find it odd that in the header illustration bit 0 is put on the left. It is usually put on the right so that you can construct the bit mask easily. That is th

I find it odd that in the header illustration bit 0 is put on the left. It is usually put on the right so that you can construct the bit mask easily. That is the way we write numbers: most significant digits first on the left, least significant digits on the right. The convention has been used in all bit twiddling literature I have ever read. Being different isn't always a smart thing.