You can use e.g. this API if you would like to see bitString presentation of your numbers. Uncommons Math
Example (in jruby)
bitString = org.uncommons.maths.binary.BitString.new(java.math.BigInteger.new("12").toString(2))
bitString.setBit(1, true)
bitString.toNumber => 14
edit: Changed api link and add a little example