Setting multiple pins on or off using 1 line of code

I can't seem to find anywhere how to turn a set of pins high or low with just 1 line. I've worked with PIC micro controllers and their command is portb = %00001111 which turns pins 0 through 3 high and then 4-7 low.

I'm curious if arduino has a similar function?

I'm controlling a stepper motor with 4 pins that need to be alternated 4 times each... That's 16 lines of code for just 1 direction!! If I can simplify this down to just 4 lines (1 for each step) that would be great.

Please don't tell me to just use the stepper library. I want this to be able to be applied to anything needing a lot of pins switched in 1 line. (Multiplexing LED, etc)

Thanks!!

You can take a look at Direct Port Manipulation