From a588edc4cd5ec5a0c3c7d2155495bc04745db253 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Backus <snarwin@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:34:42 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Add std.conv.bitCast

This helper function is a more readable alternative to the traditional
pointer-cast-based syntax for reinterpreting casts.

The name bitCast is used for this operation in several other languages,
including C++ [1], Swift [2], C# [3], Zig [4], and LLVM IR [5].

[1] https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/numeric/bit_cast
[2] https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swift/unsafebitcast(_:to:)
[3] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.runtime.compilerservices.unsafe.bitcast
[4] https://ziglang.org/documentation/0.10.0/#bitCast
[5] https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#bitcast-to-instruction
---
 std/conv.d | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+)

diff --git a/std/conv.d b/std/conv.d
index 5e0165cb609..65042b81095 100644
--- a/std/conv.d
+++ b/std/conv.d
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ $(TR $(TD Generic) $(TD
         $(LREF parse)
         $(LREF to)
         $(LREF toChars)
+        $(LREF bitCast)
 ))
 $(TR $(TD Strings) $(TD
         $(LREF text)
@@ -6047,3 +6048,38 @@ package enum toCtString(ulong n) = n.stringof[0 .. $ - "LU".length];
     assert(toCtString!0 == "0");
     assert(toCtString!123456 == "123456");
 }
+
+/**
+ * Takes the raw bits of a value and reinterprets them as a different type.
+ *
+ * Params:
+ *   T = the new type.
+ *   value = the value to reinterpret.
+ *
+ * Returns: a reference to the reinterpreted value.
+ */
+pragma(inline, true)
+ref T bitCast(T, S)(ref S value)
+if (T.sizeof <= S.sizeof)
+{
+    return *cast(T*) &value;
+}
+
+///
+@safe unittest
+{
+    uint n = 0xDEADBEEF;
+
+    version (LittleEndian)
+        assert(n.bitCast!(ubyte[4]) == [0xEF, 0xBE, 0xAD, 0xDE]);
+    version (BigEndian)
+        assert(n.bitCast!(ubyte[4]) == [0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF]);
+}
+
+// Sizes must be compatible
+@safe unittest
+{
+    uint n;
+
+    assert(!__traits(compiles, n.bitCast!ulong));
+}

From c33a31988fc81c4e7420ddd28bd012902ad5e16e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Backus <snarwin@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2025 07:52:58 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Add changelog entry for std.conv.bitCast

---
 changelog/bit-cast.dd | 14 ++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 changelog/bit-cast.dd

diff --git a/changelog/bit-cast.dd b/changelog/bit-cast.dd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..11333d2b9c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/bit-cast.dd
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Added `std.conv.bitCast`
+
+This convenience function allows reinterpreting casts to be written in a more
+readable way.
+
+---
+uint n = 0xDEADBEEF;
+
+// Before
+writeln("Bytes of n are: ", *cast(const ubyte[4]*) &n);
+
+// After
+writeln("Bytes of n are: ", n.bitCast!(const ubyte[4]));
+---