I built a small Python helper called bit-parser for decoding and encoding compact bitfields (status bytes, flags, small counters) into human-readable structures — and back again.
It’s aimed at embedded / IoT / protocol-heavy systems where devices emit short hex strings, but humans need to reason about individual bits, ranges, and meanings.
Hi HN,
I built a small Python helper called bit-parser for decoding and encoding compact bitfields (status bytes, flags, small counters) into human-readable structures — and back again.
It’s aimed at embedded / IoT / protocol-heavy systems where devices emit short hex strings, but humans need to reason about individual bits, ranges, and meanings.
Repo: https://github.com/vitalij555/bit-parser
The problem
In many protocols, a single byte (or two) encodes multiple independent signals:
boolean flags
RFU / reserved bits
small counters
mode selectors
multi-bit values with constrained ranges
Typical solutions end up as:
scattered masks and shifts
duplicated logic across CLI tools, tests, and UIs
decode-only helpers with no clean reverse operation
frontend teams re-implementing the bit layout by hand
I wanted something small and declarative, where:
the bit layout is defined once
decoding and encoding are symmetric
the same definition can drive CLIs, validation, and UI calculators