c++ - How does a bit field work with character types?

Question

   struct stats
   {
       char top         : 1; 
       char bottom      : 1;
       char side        : 2;
   } MyStat;  

I have seen this format with integers but how does the above char bit field work and what does it represent?

Thank You.

Answer 1

Char bit fields work in the same way as int, just the base type is 8-bit wide, not 32-bit. So you'd get a struct stats, which has the size of 1 byte, and 3 member variables, occupying a total of 4 bits.