Issue #20163 has been updated by jhawthorn (John Hawthorn). I've opened a PR implementing `Integer#bit_count` https://github.com/ruby/ruby/pull/17696 For negative numbers this raises `Math::DomainError`, same as `Integer#digits` when called with a negative number ---------------------------------------- Feature #20163: Introduce #bit_count method on Integer https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/20163#change-117928 * Author: garrison (Garrison Jensen) * Status: Open ---------------------------------------- This feature request is to implement a method called #bit_count on Integer that returns the number of ones in the binary representation of the absolute value of the integer. ``` n = 19 n.bit_count #=> 3 (-n).bit_count #=> 3 ``` This is often useful when you use an integer as a bitmask and want to count how many bits are set. This would be equivalent to ``` n.to_s(2).count("1") ``` However, this can be outperformed by ``` def bit_count(n) count = 0 while n > 0 n &= n - 1 # Flip the least significant 1 bit to 0 count += 1 end count end ``` I think this would be a useful addition because it would fit alongside the other bit-related methods defined on integer: `#bit_length,` `#allbits?`, `#anybits?`, `#nobits?`. Also, when working with bitmasks, a minor upgrade to performance often results in a significant improvement. Similar methods from other languages: https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#int.bit_count https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/primitive.i32.html#method.count_ones -- https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/