“Little Endian and Big Endian” are two different ways of storing multi-byte data types like integers, floating-point numbers, etc., in computer memory.

The architecture of the processor determines the choice between these two types. Little type is commonly used in x86 and x86-64 architectures, while Big type may be used in some older architectures and network protocols. The endianness of a system can affect data interchange between systems with different endianness.

• Little and big are two ways of storing multibyte data types ( int, float, etc).

To illustrate this, let’s consider a 4-byte integer 0x12345678:

Big Type

In this type of system, the lowest memory address stores the most significant byte (referred to as the “big end”) of a multi-byte data type, while subsequent bytes store in decreasing order of significance. That is, the most significant byte comes first.

In this type, it would be stored as 12 34 56 78 in memory, with the most significant byte 12 stored at the lowest memory address.

Little Type

In a Little type system, multi-byte data types store the least significant byte (referred to as the “little end”) at the lowest memory address, with subsequent bytes arranged in increasing order of significance. That is, the least significant byte comes first.

In Little Type, it would be stored as 78 56 34 12 in memory, with the least significant byte 78 stored at the lowest memory address.

Example-1: Understanding of Little Endian and Big Endian

Lets assume the value 0x01234567 (4Byte Data) will be going to store in Memory.

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Example-2: Understanding

Lets assume the value 0xFFAA5500 (4Byte Data) will be going to store in address from 4000 to 40003.

Little Type

Address	Data
4003	FF
4002	AA
4001	55
4000	00

Big Type

Address	Data
4003	00
4002	55
4001	AA
4000	FF

Example-3: Understanding

Let’s assume the value 0x6573A429 (4Byte Data) will be going to store in a 32-bit machine address from 20008 to 20000B.

Address	Little Type	Big Endian Type
20008	65	65
20009	73	73
2000A	A4	A4
2000B	65	29

C Example Code

• https://aruneworld.com/programming-language/c/c-examples/c-example-little-and-big

Advantage and Disadvantage

Certainly! Here’s a table summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of Little Type and Big Type:

Aspect	Little Endian	Big Endian
Advantages
Efficiency	Efficient memory access due to direct access to least significant byte	Human-readable representation aligning with natural digit order
Conversion Ease	Simplified byte swapping operations for data interchange	Consistency with some network protocols and file formats
Compatibility
Disadvantages
Compatibility	Potential compatibility issues when interacting with Big Endian systems	Byte swapping overhead for data interchange with Little Endian systems
Memory Access		Less efficient memory access due to potential byte swapping

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