Introduction:

Data conversion is a fundamental task in programming, and one of the common conversions developers encounter is transforming sequences of bytes into their hexadecimal representation. Hexadecimal values offer a more concise and readable format, making analyzing and debugging data easier. In this blog, we will explore various methods to convert bytes to hexadecimal in C# .

Method 1: Using BitConverter

The BitConverter class in C# provides a straightforward and efficient way to convert bytes to hexadecimal. The BitConverter.ToString() method conveniently performs this conversion for us.

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        byte[] bytes = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF };
        string hexString = BitConverter.ToString(bytes).Replace("-", "");
        Console.WriteLine("Method 1 - Hexadecimal Output: " + hexString);
    }
}

Output:

Method 1 - Hexadecimal Output: DEADBEEF

Method 2: Using StringBuilder

In situations where you are dealing with large byte arrays, using StringBuilder can be more efficient due to its mutable nature. We will implement a custom function to convert bytes to a hexadecimal string using StringBuilder.

using System;
using System.Text;

class Program
{
    static string BytesToHexString(byte[] bytes)
    {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(bytes.Length * 2);
        foreach (byte b in bytes)
        {
            sb.AppendFormat("{0:X2}", b);
        }
        return sb.ToString();
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        byte[] bytes = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF };
        string hexString = BytesToHexString(bytes);
        Console.WriteLine("Method 2 - Hexadecimal Output: " + hexString);
    }
}

Output:

Method 2 - Hexadecimal Output: DEADBEEF

Method 3: Manual Conversion

To better understand the conversion process, we can implement a manual conversion algorithm to convert each byte into its hexadecimal representation.

using System;

class Program
{
    static string BytesToHexString(byte[] bytes)
    {
        char[] hexChars = "0123456789ABCDEF".ToCharArray();
        char[] hexString = new char[bytes.Length * 2];
        for (int i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++)
        {
            int value = bytes[i];
            hexString[i * 2] = hexChars[value >> 4];
            hexString[i * 2 + 1] = hexChars[value & 0xF];
        }
        return new string(hexString);
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        byte[] bytes = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF };
        string hexString = BytesToHexString(bytes);
        Console.WriteLine("Method 3 - Hexadecimal Output: " + hexString);
    }
}

Output:

Method 3 - Hexadecimal Output: DEADBEEF

Conclusion:

This blog explored different methods to convert bytes to hexadecimal in C#. We started with the built-in BitConverter class, which offers a simple and efficient solution. We then looked into using StringBuilder for larger byte arrays, taking advantage of its mutable nature. Lastly, we implemented a manual conversion algorithm for a better understanding of the process.