Editing Mask (computing) (section)

{{Short description|Data used for bitwise operations}}
{{Redirect|Signal masking||Masking (disambiguation)}}{{one source|date=April 2020}}

In [[computer science]], a '''mask''' or '''bitmask''' is data that is used for [[bitwise operation]]s, particularly in a [[bit field]]. Using a mask, multiple bits in a [[byte]], [[nibble]], [[Word (computer architecture)|word]], etc. can be set either on or off, or inverted from on to off (or vice versa) in a single bitwise operation.  An additional use of masking involves [[Predication (computer architecture)|predication]] in [[vector processing]], where the bitmask is used to select which element operations in the vector are to be executed (mask bit is enabled) and which are not (mask bit is clear).