diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bbf4fb9..fcb2d36 100755
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,9 +5,15 @@ NAME = ditvector
 CC = g++
 CFLAGS = -Wall -g -std=c++20
 
-.PHONY: all test clean info
+.PHONY: all example test clean info
 
-all: test
+all: example
+
+example: example.o
+	@$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o example example.o
+
+example.o: example.cpp avl.hpp bit_vector.hpp bit_vector.cpp
+	@$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c example.cpp
 
 test: test.o
 	@$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o test test.o
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5fa27e5..9accc84 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,30 +2,33 @@
 
 A dynamic bitvector that support rank and select queries.
 
-The datastructure allows for one template argument that defines the size of the bitblocks stored in leaf.
+The datastructure allows for one template argument that defines the size of the bitblocks stored in the leafs.
 This parameter can be used to select the appropriate trade-off between space and time complexity.
 As a sensible default a size of 512 bits is used.
 
 ## Operations
 
 The datastructure supports the following instructions which all have logarithmic runtime.
-* insert(index, true/false)
-* del(index)
-* set(index)
-* unset(index)
-* flip(index)
-* rank(index, true/false)
-* select(index, true/false)
+* `insert(index, true/false)`
+* `del(index)`
+* `set(index)`
+* `unset(index)`
+* `flip(index)`
+* `rank(index, true/false)`
+* `select(index, true/false)`
+* `complement()`
+* `size()` returns number of bits in bitvector
+* `extract()` returns all bits as std::vector<bool>
 
 ## Usage
 
 ```c++
-BitVector<> bv;
+BitVector<16> bv;
 bv.insert(0, false);
 bv.insert(0, true);
-bv.access(0); // true
-bv.rank(1, true); // 1
+bv.access(0);         // 1
+bv.rank(1, true);     // 1
 bv.flip(0);
-bv.rank(1, true); // 0
+bv.rank(1, true);     // 0
 ```
 
diff --git a/bit_vector.cpp b/bit_vector.cpp
index 00e7afe..ca70c6d 100644
--- a/bit_vector.cpp
+++ b/bit_vector.cpp
@@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ void BitVector<S>::complement() {
     complement(this->root);
 }
 
+template <size_t S>
+uint32_t BitVector<S>::size() {
+    return size(this->root);
+}
+
 // collect all the bits in the bitvector and return it as one consecutive bool vector
 template <size_t S>
 std::vector<bool> BitVector<S>::extract() {
@@ -295,6 +300,14 @@ void BitVector<S>::complement(BV_Node<S> *node) {
     }
 }
 
+// calculate the number of bits that are stored in the structure
+template <size_t S>
+uint32_t BitVector<S>::size(BV_Node<S> *node) {
+    if (!node)
+        return 0;
+    return node->nums + size(node->r);
+}
+
 // find the node (always a leaf) that contains the bit at the position index
 // index is updated as well to locate the bit inside the leaf block
 template <size_t S>
diff --git a/bit_vector.hpp b/bit_vector.hpp
index 1073eb1..3714ca4 100644
--- a/bit_vector.hpp
+++ b/bit_vector.hpp
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ class BitVector : public AVL<BV_Node<S>> {
         uint32_t select(BV_Node<S> *, uint32_t, bool);
         bool access(BV_Node<S> *, uint32_t);
         void complement(BV_Node<S> *);
+        uint32_t size(BV_Node<S> *);
         BV_Node<S> *find_block(BV_Node<S> *, uint32_t*);
 
         #ifdef ADS_DEBUG
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ class BitVector : public AVL<BV_Node<S>> {
         uint32_t select(uint32_t, bool);
         bool access(uint32_t);
         void complement();
+        uint32_t size();
         std::vector<bool> extract();
 
         #ifdef ADS_DEBUG
diff --git a/example.cpp b/example.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a660c73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/example.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#include "bit_vector.cpp"
+
+const size_t BLOCK_SIZE = 64;
+    
+int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
+
+    BitVector<BLOCK_SIZE> bv;
+    bv.insert(0, false);
+    bv.insert(0, true);
+    std::cout << bv.access(0) << std::endl;
+    std::cout << bv.rank(1, true) << std::endl;
+    bv.flip(0);
+    std::cout << bv.rank(1, true) << std::endl;
+    bv.del(0);
+    std::cout << bv.size() << std::endl;
+}
+