How to Efficiently Convert Byte Arrays to Hexadecimal Strings and Vice Versa?

Efficiently Converting Byte Arrays and Hexadecimal Strings

Many applications require converting byte arrays to hexadecimal strings and vice versa. This article explores efficient methods for this conversion in .NET.

Byte Array to Hexadecimal String

.NET 5 and later offer the simplest solution using Convert.ToHexString:

byte[] byteArray = { 1, 2, 3 };
string hexString = Convert.ToHexString(byteArray); 

For older .NET frameworks, two alternatives provide similar functionality:

Method 1 (Using StringBuilder):

public static string ByteArrayToHex(byte[] ba)
{
  StringBuilder hex = new StringBuilder(ba.Length * 2);
  foreach (byte b in ba)
    hex.AppendFormat("{0:x2}", b);
  return hex.ToString();
}

Method 2 (Using BitConverter):

public static string ByteArrayToHex(byte[] ba)
{
  return BitConverter.ToString(ba).Replace("-", "");
}

Hexadecimal String to Byte Array

Converting a hexadecimal string back to a byte array can be achieved with this method:

public static byte[] HexToByteArray(string hex)
{
  int len = hex.Length;
  byte[] arr = new byte[len / 2];
  for (int i = 0; i < len; i += 2)
  {
    arr[i / 2] = Convert.ToByte(hex.Substring(i, 2), 16);
  }
  return arr;
}

For enhanced performance, utilizing Substring with Convert.ToByte directly avoids unnecessary intermediate conversions. This approach is particularly beneficial when dealing with large byte arrays.

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