named-bitfield 0.1.0

Compact representation of fixed width numeric values

named_bitfield lets you define fixed width bit fields within an integer, and address those fields as class attributes, while still providing access to the backing integer representation. The original use case for this is “intellignet IDs”. Essentially, this is a unique numeric id, sutiable for use as a database primary key, which encodes some information about the object it identifies. Obviously, this should be immutable information so your IDs don’t change or (worse) get out of sync with reality. Some suggestions are the object type, the create time, or the data source. Saving a few bits for a serial counter is also advisable, as timestamps aren’t reliable as unique ids.