Bit Spreading Interleave Bits with Zeros

Code

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdint.h>

uint16_t spread_bits(uint8_t val) {

    uint16_t reg;
    unsigned int j=0;
    for(int i=0;i<8;i++)
    {
        if((val & (1<<i))!=0)
        {
            reg |=(1<<j);
            reg &=~(1<<j+1);
            j=j+2;
        }
        else{
         reg &=~(1<<j);
            reg &=~(1<<j+1);
            j=j+2;}
    }
    
    return reg;
}

int main() {
    uint8_t val;
    scanf("%hhu", &val);

    uint16_t result = spread_bits(val);
    printf("%u", result);
    return 0;
}

Solving Approach