Java - Convert int to Byte Array of 4 Bytes?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Convert integer into byte array (Java)

I need to store the length of a buffer, in a byte array 4 bytes large.

Pseudo code:

private byte[] convertLengthToByte(byte[] myBuffer)
{
    int length = myBuffer.length;

    byte[] byteLength = new byte[4];

    //here is where I need to convert the int length to a byte array
    byteLength = length.toByteArray;

    return byteLength;
}

What would be the best way of accomplishing this? Keeping in mind I must convert that byte array back to an integer later.

Solution 1

You can convert yourInt to bytes by using a ByteBuffer like this:

return ByteBuffer.allocate(4).putInt(yourInt).array();

Beware that you might have to think about the byte order when doing so.

Solution 2

public static  byte[] my_int_to_bb_le(int myInteger){
    return ByteBuffer.allocate(4).order(ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN).putInt(myInteger).array();
}

public static int my_bb_to_int_le(byte [] byteBarray){
    return ByteBuffer.wrap(byteBarray).order(ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN).getInt();
}

public static  byte[] my_int_to_bb_be(int myInteger){
    return ByteBuffer.allocate(4).order(ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN).putInt(myInteger).array();
}

public static int my_bb_to_int_be(byte [] byteBarray){
    return ByteBuffer.wrap(byteBarray).order(ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN).getInt();
}

Solution 3

This should work:

public static final byte[] intToByteArray(int value) {
    return new byte[] {
            (byte)(value >>> 24),
            (byte)(value >>> 16),
            (byte)(value >>> 8),
            (byte)value};
}

Code taken from here.

Edit An even simpler solution is given in this thread.

Solution 4

int integer = 60;
byte[] bytes = new byte[4];
for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
    bytes[i] = (byte)(integer >>> (i * 8));
}

View more solutions

Comments

[TacB0sS]

Take a look at this: stackoverflow.com/questions/5399798/…

[Error]

you should be aware of order. in that case order is big endian. from the most significant to the least.

[helmy]

This is better (gets the platform ByteOrder): ByteBuffer.allocate(4).order(ByteOrder.nativeOrder()).putInt‌​(yourInt).array();

[Waldheinz]

If it's better depends on what you want to do with it. It may be a little bit faster, but having the byte order depend on the platform is a no-no when you want to send those bytes over a network or even write to a file.