What is big endian and little endian?
1 answer(s)
Big endian and little endian is about the order of bytes in computer memory. It is how a computer saves a number that is bigger than one byte.
Big endian is the "natural" way. The most important byte (the "big end") is stored first. For example, the number 0x1A2B3C4D is saved as 1A 2B 3C 4D. It is like how we read.
Little endian is the reverse. The least important byte (the "little end") is stored first. The same number becomes 4D 3C 2B 1A in memory.
Most computers today, like with Intel CPUs, use little endian. It is important to know for networking.