How do you define flags?

Dusan Paulovic

There are many options to define values for flags, here is a list of known by me: - Hexadecimal: 0x01, 0x02, 0x04, 0x08, 0x10, 0x20, ... - Decimal: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, ... - Bit Shifting of 1: 1<<0, 1<<1, 1<<2, 1<<3, 1<<4, ... - 2 * previous a=1, b=a*2, c=b*2, d=c*2, e=d*2, ... Do you know any other? Which do you consider as the best, and why? Do you define (give it a name) an empty member (0) in flags?

Lost User

Any other is just a variation of the above, which are all basically the same. The only 'difference' is the visual representation.
Hexadecimal is best as it makes it obvious what each bit represents, and is easy to visualise when flags are used in combination.
Only define a zero value if it has any specific meaning.

Albert Holguin

I mostly use hex flags, I think that's the most common method. It's probably because it's a lot clearer which bits are actually set (for that same reason, I don't think I've ever seen decimal used for flags since the conversion isn't as neat). Empty flags have a definition if they have a meaning (i.e. not necessary but could be labeled for clarity).