RFC: buffer.readbits/writebits

docs/function-buffer-bits.md

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+# buffer.readbits/writebits
+
+## Summary
+
+Add `buffer.readbits` and `buffer.writebits` to give developers an easy way to work with bit buffers.
+
+## Motivation
+
+With the release of the buffer type, many developers have asked for a way to write integers of custom non-standard widths and just general bit access, based on previous experience with bit buffer libraries.
+
+While bit operations can be implemented manually, it requires careful bit manipulation, especially when partial byte writes are required or when reading bits is performed sequentially across bytes without a rigid 'bitfield' offset definition.
+
+## Design
+
+`buffer` library will gain two new functions, `readbits` and `writebits`:
+
+```
+buffer.readbits(b: buffer, bitOffset: number, bitCount: number): number
+buffer.writebits(b: buffer, bitOffset: number, bitCount: number, value: number): ()
+```
+
+`bitCount` is an integer in range [0, 32]. Error is thrown if number is not in range.
+
+0 bit width is supported only to not error in generalized cases where bit count is dynamic. Reading 0 bits returns 0 and writing has no effect.
+
+Similar to other numerical buffer read/write functions, if `bitOffset` and `bitCount` cause a bit access outside the bounds of the buffer, an error is thrown.
+
+In `writebits`, `value` is treated as an unsigned 32 bit number. Only `bitCount` least significant bits are written.
+
+In `readbits`, return value is unsigned.
+
+---
+
+Operations are always preformed in little-endian byte order and starting from least significant bits.
+
+This means that:
+
+```lua
+buffer.readbits(b, 0, 8) == buffer.readu8(b, 0)
+buffer.readbits(b, 0, 16) == buffer.readu16(b, 0)
+buffer.readbits(b, 0, 32) == buffer.readu32(b, 0)
+
+buffer.writebits(b, 0, 1, 1)
+buffer.readi8(b, 0) == 1
+
+buffer.writebits(b, 1, 1, 1)
+buffer.readi8(b, 0) == 3
+```
+
+> Only a library function implementation is suggested for implementation, the complexity of the operation of a prototype implementation is unlikely to benefit from a fastcall.
+
+## Drawbacks
+
+Because of the bounds checking requirements, implementation needs a loop to access the buffer bytes, which is potentially slower than what developers can do with existing functions when they know that it's safe to read a larger number and extract bits with bit32 functions.
+
+## Alternatives
+
+A signed version of `readbits` is not proposed to simplify the design. Writing and reading signed values can be performed with a bias.