Endianmerkinnät

Endianmerkinnät, often translated as endianness, refers to the order in which bytes are arranged in computer memory when representing a multi-byte data type, such as a 16-bit integer or a 32-bit floating-point number. There are two primary types of endianness: big-endian and little-endian.

In a big-endian system, the most significant byte (the byte representing the largest value) is stored at the lowest memory address. Conversely, in a little-endian system, the least significant byte (the byte representing the smallest value) is stored at the lowest memory address.

For example, consider the hexadecimal number 0x12345678. In a big-endian system, it would be stored in memory as 12, 34, 56, 78 at consecutive addresses. In a little-endian system, it would be stored as 78, 56, 34, 12.

The choice of endianness affects how data is read and written, particularly when transferring data between systems with different endianness. This can lead to data corruption if not handled properly. Many network protocols, such as TCP/IP, specify a standard network byte order, which is typically big-endian, to ensure interoperability. Processors from manufacturers like Motorola and IBM traditionally used big-endian, while Intel processors are predominantly little-endian. Some architectures, like the PowerPC, can support both. Understanding endianness is crucial for low-level programming, network programming, and data serialization.