docs: protected long readZeroBranchSize(final BitInputStream in, final long max,
      final Bits code) throws IOException {
      if (0 == max) {
        return 0;
      }
      final long value;
      if (SERIALIZATION_CHECKS) {
        in.expect(SerializationChecks.BeforeCount);
      }
      if (this.useBinomials) {
        value = Gaussian.fromBinomial(0.5, max).decode(in, max);
      }
      else {
        value = in.readBoundedLong(1 + max);
      }
      if (SERIALIZATION_CHECKS) {
        in.expect(SerializationChecks.AfterCount);
      }
      return value;
    }