code: private static byte decodeOneByteItem(byte[] data, int index) {
          // null item
          if ((data[index] & 0xFF) == OFFSET_SHORT_ITEM) {
              return (byte) (data[index] - OFFSET_SHORT_ITEM);
          }
          // single byte item
          if ((data[index] & 0xFF) < OFFSET_SHORT_ITEM) {
              return data[index];
          }
          // single byte item
          if ((data[index] & 0xFF) == OFFSET_SHORT_ITEM + 1) {
              return data[index + 1];
          }
          return 0;
      }
docs: /*
  ****************************************************** DECODING *
  ****************************************************