Hwloc uses bitmaps to represent two distinct kinds of object sets: CPU sets (hwloc_cpuset_t) and NUMA node sets (hwloc_nodeset_t). These types are both typedefs to a common back end type (hwloc_bitmap_t), and therefore all the hwloc bitmap functions are applicable to both hwloc_cpuset_t and hwloc_nodeset_t (see The bitmap API).
The rationale for having two different types is that even though the actions one wants to perform on these types are the same (e.g., enable and disable individual items in the set/mask), they're used in very different contexts: one for specifying which processors to use and one for specifying which NUMA nodes to use. Hence, the name difference is really just to reflect the intent of where the type is used.
◆ hwloc_const_cpuset_t
◆ hwloc_const_nodeset_t
◆ hwloc_cpuset_t
◆ hwloc_nodeset_t