bit twiddling

( n.)

   [very common]

   1.   (pejorative)  An  exercise  in  tuning  (see  {tune})  in  which
   incredible amounts of time and effort go to produce little noticeable
   improvement,   often   with   the   result   that  the  code  becomes
   incomprehensible.

   2.  Aimless  small modification to a program, esp. for some pointless
   goal.

   3.  Approx. syn. for {bit bashing}; esp. used for the act of frobbing
   the  device  control register of a peripheral in an attempt to get it
   back to a known state.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {bit bashing}{twiddle}]