How to Convert Binary Bytes to Signed Integers and Floats in Go?

Converting Binary Bytes to Signed Integers and Floats in Go

In Go, the binary package provides methods for converting byte slices ([]byte) into unsigned integers (e.g., Uint16, Uint32). However, there are no explicit methods for converting byte slices to signed integers or floats.

Why the Omission?

The absence of signed integer and float conversion methods in the binary package is likely due to the fact that endianness affects how numeric types are interpreted from bytes. Endianness refers to the order in which bytes are stored in memory. Depending on the system architecture, bytes can be arranged in little-endian (least significant byte first) or big-endian (most significant byte first).

Conversion to Signed Integers

Despite the lack of dedicated methods, converting []byte to signed integers can be achieved through type conversion. Since unsigned and signed integers have the same memory layout, the conversion is straightforward:

<code class="go">a := binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(sampleA)
a2 := int16(a) // Convert to signed int16</code>

Similarly, you can convert uint64 values to int64 values.

Conversion to Floats

Converting unsigned integers to floats is more involved. While you could attempt a simple type conversion, it would result in the numerical value being converted, not the memory representation.

Instead, use the functions provided by the math package:

<code class="go">a := binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(sampleA)
a2 := math.Float64frombits(a) // Convert to float64</code>

To convert float values to unsigned integers with the same memory layout, use:

<code class="go">a := math.Float64bits(a2) // Convert float64 to uint64</code>

Read() and Write() Convenience Functions

The binary package also provides Read() and Write() functions that can perform these conversions under the hood. For example:

<code class="go">var pi float64
buf := bytes.NewReader(sampleA)
err := binary.Read(buf, binary.LittleEndian, &pi)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}</code>

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