calculate number of bits set in byte

Question

I am interested, which is the optimal way of calculating the number of bits set in byte by this way

template< unsigned char byte > class BITS_SET
{
public:
    enum {
     B0 = (byte & 0x01) ? 1:0,
     B1 = (byte & 0x02) ? 1:0,
     B2 = (byte & 0x04) ? 1:0,
     B3 = (byte & 0x08) ? 1:0,
     B4 = (byte & 0x10) ? 1:0,
     B5 = (byte & 0x20) ? 1:0,
     B6 = (byte & 0x40) ? 1:0,
     B7 = (byte & 0x80) ? 1:0
    };
public:
 enum{RESULT = B0+B1+B2+B3+B4+B5+B6+B7};
};

Maybe it is optimal when value of byte is known at run-time? Is it recommended use this in code?

Answer 1

For one byte of data, the optimal way considering both speed and memory consumption:

uint8_t count_ones (uint8_t byte)
{
  static const uint8_t NIBBLE_LOOKUP [16] =
  {
    0, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 3, 
    1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 4
  };


  return NIBBLE_LOOKUP[byte & 0x0F] + NIBBLE_LOOKUP[byte >> 4];
}

Calling this function from a for loop should yield quite an efficient program on most systems. And it is very generic.