What Is Endian?

Endianness, the friend, refers to the order in which computer systems store and retrieve bytes from memory. Consider how you would read a book: do you begin on the first page and end on the last, or do you begin on the last page and end on the first? Endianness is similar to this, but for computers. Endianness is classified into two types: big-endian and little-endian. Big-endian systems keep the most significant byte of data at the lowest address and the least significant byte at the highest address in memory. It's like starting at the beginning and ending at the end of a book. In contrast, little-endian systems store the least significant byte of data at the lowest and the most significant byte at the highest. It's like going from the last page of a book to the first. This may appear a minor distinction, but it can have unanticipated consequences when working with data. If you're using a big-endian system and want to store the number 0x1234, the memory would look like 0x12, 0x34. If you're using a little-endian system, the memory will look like 0x34, 0x12. So, why is this important? It can be important when exchanging data between systems with different endianness or working with multi-byte data types like integers or floating-point numbers. If the endianness is handled correctly, the data can be understood, resulting in bugs or crashes in your code. Because of its widespread use in personal computers and popular microprocessors such as Intel and ARM, little-endian is now the most common endianness. On the other hand, big-endian systems are still widely used in many embedded systems and some computer networks, such as the Internet Protocol (IP). When working with computer systems, it is critical to understand the concept of endianness. It's similar to selecting your preferred method of reading a book, but for computers! To avoid unpleasant surprises, make sure your code handles endianness correctly.