- Python convert a negative integer into byte(singed=True), but convert back, it becomes positive
- Related Solutions
- Python negative int to bytes
- # Table of Contents
- # How to convert Int to Bytes in Python
- # Creating a reusable function to convert an integer to bytes and vice versa
- # Converting signed (negative) integers to bytes in Python
- # Converting the Integer to a String and then Bytes
- # Additional Resources
- Convert int to bytes in Python
- How to convert int to bytes in Python?
- Examples
- Using ‘big’ as the byteorder
- Using ‘little’ as the byteorder
- Negative Integers to bytes with signed=True
- Author
Python convert a negative integer into byte(singed=True), but convert back, it becomes positive
You should use the int.from_bytes() method to convert a byte back into an integer instead:
print(int.from_bytes(array, byteorder='big', signed=True))
Related Solutions
Python – How to convert strings into integers
int() is the Python standard built-in function to convert a string into an integer value. You call it with a string containing a number as the argument, and it returns the number converted to an integer:
If you know the structure of your list, T1 (that it simply contains lists, only one level), you could do this in Python 3:
T2 = [list(map(int, x)) for x in T1]
Java – Convert integer into byte array (Java)
Have a look at the ByteBuffer class.
ByteBuffer b = ByteBuffer.allocate(4); //b.order(ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN); // optional, the initial order of a byte buffer is always BIG_ENDIAN. b.putInt(0xAABBCCDD); byte[] result = b.array();
Setting the byte order ensures that result[0] == 0xAA , result[1] == 0xBB , result[2] == 0xCC and result[3] == 0xDD .
Or alternatively, you could do it manually:
byte[] toBytes(int i) < byte[] result = new byte[4]; result[0] = (byte) (i >> 24); result[1] = (byte) (i >> 16); result[2] = (byte) (i >> 8); result[3] = (byte) (i /*>> 0*/); return result; >
The ByteBuffer class was designed for such dirty hands tasks though. In fact the private java.nio.Bits defines these helper methods that are used by ByteBuffer.putInt() :
private static byte int3(int x) < return (byte)(x >> 24); > private static byte int2(int x) < return (byte)(x >> 16); > private static byte int1(int x) < return (byte)(x >> 8); > private static byte int0(int x) < return (byte)(x >> 0); >
Related Question
Python negative int to bytes
Last updated: Jun 23, 2023
Reading time · 3 min
# Table of Contents
# How to convert Int to Bytes in Python
Use the int.to_bytes() method to convert an integer to bytes in Python.
The method returns an array of bytes representing an integer.
Copied!num = 2048 my_bytes = num.to_bytes(2, byteorder='big') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'\x08\x00'
If your integer is not stored in a variable, make sure to wrap it in parentheses before calling to_bytes() .
Copied!my_bytes = (2048).to_bytes(2, byteorder='big') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'\x08\x00'
The int.to_bytes method returns an array of bytes representing an integer.
The integer is represented using length bytes and defaults to 1 .
An OverflowError is raised if the integer cannot be represented using the given number of bytes.
Copied!my_bytes = (1024).to_bytes(2, byteorder='big') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'\x04\x00' my_bytes = (1024).to_bytes(10, byteorder='big') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x04\x00'
The second argument we passed to the to_bytes() method determines the byte order that is used to represent the integer.
The byteorder argument defaults to big .
If the byteorder argument is set to big , then the most significant byte is at the beginning of the byte array.
If you set the byteorder argument to little , the most significant byte is at the end of the byte array.
Copied!my_bytes = (1024).to_bytes(2, byteorder='little') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'\x00\x04' my_bytes = (1024).to_bytes(10, byteorder='little') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'\x00\x04\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00'
# Creating a reusable function to convert an integer to bytes and vice versa
You can also create a reusable function that converts integers to bytes.
Copied!def int_to_bytes(integer): return integer.to_bytes((integer.bit_length() + 7) // 8, 'big') print(int_to_bytes(65)) # 👉️ b'A' print(int_to_bytes(1024)) # 👉️ b'\x04\x00' print(int_to_bytes(2048)) # 👉️ b'\x08\x00'
The int_to_bytes function takes an integer as a parameter and converts it to a bytes object.
Conversely, if you need to convert a bytes object to an integer, use the int.from_bytes() method instead.
Copied!def int_from_bytes(bytes_obj): return int.from_bytes(bytes_obj, byteorder='big') print(int_from_bytes(b'A')) # 👉️ b'A' print(int_from_bytes(b'\x04\x00')) # 👉️ b'\x04\x00' print(int_from_bytes(b'\x08\x00')) # 👉️ b'\x08\x00'
The int.from_bytes() method returns the integer represented by the given byte array.
The first argument the method takes must be a bytes-like object or an iterable that produces bytes.
The byteorder argument determines which byte order is used to represent the integer.
The default value is big which means that the most significant byte is at the beginning of the byte array.
If the byteorder argument is set to «little» , then the most significant byte is at the end of the byte array.
# Converting signed (negative) integers to bytes in Python
The examples above only work for unsigned (non-negative integers).
If you need to convert signed integers to bytes, use the following function instead.
Copied!def int_to_bytes(integer): return integer.to_bytes( length=(8 + (integer + (integer 0)).bit_length()) // 8, byteorder='big', signed=True ) print(int_to_bytes(-1024)) # 👉️ b'\xfc\x00' print(int_to_bytes(-2048)) # 👉️ b'\xf8\x00'
Calculating the length argument when converting signed (negative) integers to bytes is a bit more complicated.
The signed argument determines whether two’s complement is used to represent the integer.
If signed is False and a negative integer is supplied, an OverflowError is raised.
By default, the signed argument is set to False .
The following function can be used if you need to convert signed bytes to integers.
Copied!def int_from_bytes(binary_data): return int.from_bytes(binary_data, byteorder='big', signed=True) print(int_from_bytes(b'\xfc\x00')) # -1024 print(int_from_bytes(b'\xf8\x00')) # -2048
The signed argument indicates whether two’s complement is used to represent the integer.
# Converting the Integer to a String and then Bytes
If you need to convert the integer to a string and then bytes, use the str.encode method.
Copied!num = 2048 my_bytes = str(num).encode(encoding='utf-8') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'2048'
We passed the integer to the str class to convert it to a string and then used the str.encode() method to convert the string to bytes.
The same can be achieved by using the bytes class.
Copied!num = 2048 my_bytes = bytes(str(num), encoding='utf-8') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'2048'
If you need to convert the bytes object back to an integer, use the bytes.decode method and the int() class.
Copied!num = 2048 my_bytes = str(num).encode(encoding='utf-8') print(my_bytes) # 👉️ b'2048' my_int = int(my_bytes.decode(encoding='utf-8')) print(my_int) # 👉️ 2048
The bytes.decode() method converts the bytes object to a string.
The last step is to use the int() class to convert the string to an integer.
# Additional Resources
You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:
I wrote a book in which I share everything I know about how to become a better, more efficient programmer.
Convert int to bytes in Python
In this tutorial, we will look at how to convert an int type object to a bytes type object in Python with the help of some examples.
How to convert int to bytes in Python?
You can use the int class method int.to_bytes() to convert an int object to an array of bytes representing that integer. The following is the syntax –
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# int to bytes int.to_bytes(length, byteorder, signed)
It takes the following arguments –
- length – The number of bytes to use to represent the integer. If the integer is not representable with the given number of bytes, an OverflowError is raised.
- byteorder – Determines the byte order used to represent the integer. Use ‘big’ as the byte order to have the most significant byte at the beginning of the byte array. Use ‘little’ as the byte order to have the most significant byte at the end of the byte array.
- signed – Determines wheter to use two’s compliment to represent the integer. It is an optional parameter and is False by default. Helpful in converting signed integers to bytes.
Examples
Let’s look at some examples of using the int.to_bytes() function to convert an integer to bytes.
Using ‘big’ as the byteorder
Let’s convert the integer value 7 to a byte array of length 2 and with “big” as the byteorder.
# integer variable num = 7 # integer to bytes num_bytes = num.to_bytes(2, byteorder='big') # display result and type print(num_bytes) print(type(num_bytes))
We get the returned value as bytes with the most significant byte at the beginning.
Using ‘little’ as the byteorder
Let’s use the same example as above but with “little” as the byteorder
# integer variable num = 7 # integer to bytes num_bytes = num.to_bytes(2, byteorder='little') # display result and type print(num_bytes) print(type(num_bytes))
We get the most significant byte at the end of the byte array.
Negative Integers to bytes with signed=True
If you use the default signed=False on a negative integer, you will get an OverflowError .
# integer variable num = -7 # integer to bytes num_bytes = num.to_bytes(2, byteorder='big') # display result and type print(num_bytes) print(type(num_bytes))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- OverflowError Traceback (most recent call last) Input In [11], in 2 num = -7 3 # integer to bytes ----> 4 num_bytes = num.to_bytes(2, byteorder='big') 5 # display result and type 6 print(num_bytes) OverflowError: can't convert negative int to unsigned
To convert negative integers to bytes with the int.to_bytes() function, pass signed=True . It will use two’s complement to represent the integer.
# integer variable num = -7 # integer to bytes num_bytes = num.to_bytes(2, byteorder='big', signed=True) # display result and type print(num_bytes) print(type(num_bytes))
We get the bytes for the negative integer.
For more on the int.to_bytes() function, refer to its documentation.
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Piyush is a data professional passionate about using data to understand things better and make informed decisions. He has experience working as a Data Scientist in the consulting domain and holds an engineering degree from IIT Roorkee. His hobbies include watching cricket, reading, and working on side projects. View all posts
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