Overview
This post summarizes the differences between little endian and big endian.
What is Endianness?
- The arrangement of multiple bytes is called endianness or byte order.
- It refers to how data is arranged when loaded into memory.
- Endianness is determined by the CPU, protocol, or OS.
- Issues related to endianness often arise when exchanging data between different systems or networks.
- e.g., Endianness conversion is required when analyzing binary data.
Big Endian
- A method where data is arranged in memory starting from the lower address, with the most significant byte placed first, followed by the less significant bytes.
- e.g., Hexadecimal 00 01 02 03 → 00 01 02 03
Little Endian
- A method where data is arranged in memory starting from the higher address, with the most significant byte placed first, followed by the less significant bytes.
- e.g., Hexadecimal 00 01 02 03 → 03 02 01 00
Middle Endian
- A more unconventional method compared to the two above.
Bi-Endian
- A method that allows switching between big endian and little endian.