Bytearray

Understanding Bytearray

A bytearray in Python is a mutable sequence of integers in the range 0 <= x < 256. It's essentially a modifiable version of the bytes object.

Creating a Bytearray

Similar to bytes, bytearrays can be created in several ways:

• From a string:

Python

text = "Python is interesting."

byte_array = bytearray(text, 'utf-8')

print(byte_array)  # Output: bytearray(b'Python is interesting.')

• From an iterable of integers:

Python

byte_array = bytearray([65, 66, 67])

print(byte_array)  # Output: bytearray(b'ABC')

• From a given size:

Python

byte_array = bytearray(5)

print(byte_array)  # Output: bytearray(b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00')

Modifying Bytearrays

Unlike bytes, bytearrays can be modified in place.

Python

byte_array = bytearray(b'Hello')

byte_array[0] = ord('J')  # Replace the first character with 'J'

print(byte_array)  # Output: bytearray(b'Jello')

Common Operations

Similar to bytes, bytearrays support slicing, concatenation, membership testing, and length operations. Additionally, they have methods for modifying the content.

Key Differences Between Bytes and Bytearray

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Use Cases

Bytearrays are often used when you need to manipulate binary data in place, such as network communication, image processing, or data serialization.

Example:

Python

data = bytearray(b'Hello')

data[0] = ord('J')  # Modify the first byte

print(data)  # Output: bytearray(b'Jello')

In summary, bytearrays provide a flexible way to work with binary data when modifications are required. Understanding the difference between bytes and bytearrays is crucial for effective data handling in Python.