The important thing these days isn't _wires_ per se, but chip _area_, and # of wiring layers. Various shifts & reverse can easily be performed on n bits, but this typically requires O(n^2) chip area. Most ALU's do have such a shifter, but most don't have a bit reverser, which would probably cost another layer. At 08:04 AM 4/20/2014, Allan Wechsler wrote:

Doesn't it take _no_ gates to reverse a word, no matter how long it is? Just a bunch of wires.