template <typename T>
T rightmostSetBitRemoved(T n)
{
// static_assert(std::is_integral<T>::value && !std::is_signed<T>::value, "type should be unsigned"); // For c++11 and later
return n & (n - 1);
}
Explanation
n is zero, we have 0 & 0xFF..FF which is zeron can be written 0bxxxxxx10..00 and n - 1 is 0bxxxxxx011..11, so n & (n - 1) is 0bxxxxxx000..00.