Bit Spreading Interleave Bits with Zeros

Code

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

uint16_t spread_bits(uint8_t val) {
    // Your logic here
    if (val == 0)
        return 0;

    uint16_t val_16 = 0;
    uint8_t bitIndex = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < 16; i++)
    {
        if (i % 2 == 0)
        {
            if (val & (1 << bitIndex))
            {
                val_16 |= (1 << i);
            }
            bitIndex++;
        }
    }

    return val_16;
}

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

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

Solving Approach