NumPy - Byte Swapping

We have seen that the data stored in the memory of a computer depends on which architecture the CPU uses. It may be little-endian (least significant is stored in the smallest address) or big-endian (most significant byte in the smallest address).

numpy.ndarray.byteswap()

The numpy.ndarray.byteswap() function toggles between the two representations: bigendian and little-endian.

import numpy as np 
a = np.array([1, 256, 8755], dtype = np.int16) 

print 'Our array is:' 
print a  

print 'Representation of data in memory in hexadecimal form:'  
print map(hex,a)  
# byteswap() function swaps in place by passing True parameter 

print 'Applying byteswap() function:' 
print a.byteswap(True) 

print 'In hexadecimal form:' 
print map(hex,a) 
# We can see the bytes being swapped

It will produce the following output −

Our array is:
[1 256 8755]

Representation of data in memory in hexadecimal form:
['0x1', '0x100', '0x2233']

Applying byteswap() function:
[256 1 13090]

In hexadecimal form:
['0x100', '0x1', '0x3322']