Big Endian and Little Endian

All computers do not store the bytes that comprise a multi-byte value in the same order. Consider a 16-bit internet that is made up of 2 bytes. Two ways to store this value −

  • Little Endian − In this scheme, low-order byte is stored on the starting address (A) and high-order byte is stored on the next address (A + 1).
    • make most sense from an addressing/computetational standpoint
  • Big Endian − In this scheme, high-order byte is stored on the starting address (A) and low-order byte is stored on the next address (A + 1).
    • make most sense to a human reader

简单来说，就是字节的存储顺序不同。小端是低位在前，大端是高位在前。