5 Best Ways to Convert Python bytearray to Hexadecimal

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💡 Problem Formulation: How can a bytearray in Python be converted to a hexadecimal string? This is a common task when handling binary data that needs to be represented as a hex string for readability, storage, or further processing. For instance, given a bytearray b'\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF', the desired output is the string 'deadbeef'.

Method 1: Using binascii.hexlify

Python’s binascii module contains a function hexlify that converts a binary array to its hexadecimal representation. It is a convenient method that quickly turns bytearray or bytes objects into a hex string.

Here’s an example:

import binascii

byte_array = bytearray(b'\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF')
hex_string = binascii.hexlify(byte_array).decode()

print(hex_string)

Output: deadbeef

This snippet first imports the binascii module, then creates a bytearray object. The hexlify function is used to get the hexadecimal representation, which is then decoded to produce a string for output.

Method 2: Using .hex() Method

Python’s bytearray and bytes objects have a built-in .hex() method that returns a string object containing the hexadecimal representation. This is a straightforward and readable method available in Python 3.

Here’s an example:

byte_array = bytearray(b'\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF')
hex_string = byte_array.hex()

print(hex_string)

Output: deadbeef

This code creates a bytearray and then calls the hex() method on that array to retrieve the hex representation which is then printed.

Method 3: Using format Function

Use Python’s built-in format function with a comprehension or loop to convert each byte to its corresponding hexadecimal string. It’s a customizable method where you can control the case (uppercase or lowercase) of the hexadecimal output.

Here’s an example:

byte_array = bytearray(b'\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF')
hex_string = ''.join(format(x, '02x') for x in byte_array)

print(hex_string)

Output: deadbeef

This approach uses list comprehension to iterate through each byte in the bytearray, converting each byte to hex using the format function, and then joins them together into a full hex string.

Method 4: Using binascii.b2a_hex

The binascii.b2a_hex function is similar to hexlify, but it’s worth noting as a separate approach. This method also produces a hexadecimal representation of a binary array.

Here’s an example:

import binascii

byte_array = bytearray(b'\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF')
hex_string = binascii.b2a_hex(byte_array).decode()

print(hex_string)

Output: deadbeef

By using binascii.b2a_hex, the code converts a bytearray to a binary array hex string, then decodes it to get a standard string.

Bonus One-Liner Method 5: Using codecs.encode

The codecs module provides a way to encode the bytearray into hex using the encode method. This one-liner is concise and uses the standard library.

Here’s an example:

import codecs

byte_array = bytearray(b'\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF')
hex_string = codecs.encode(byte_array, 'hex').decode()

print(hex_string)

Output: deadbeef

Using the codecs.encode method, the bytearray is directly transformed into a hex string with an encoding step and then it is decoded into a standard string.

Summary/Discussion

  • Method 1: binascii.hexlify. Straightforward. Requires additional decoding.
  • Method 2: .hex() Method. Most readable and direct. Only available in Python 3.
  • Method 3: format Function. Customizable case formatting. Slightly more verbose.
  • Method 4: binascii.b2a_hex. Very similar to Method 1. Requires additional decoding.
  • Bonus Method 5: codecs.encode. Concise one-liner. Not as commonly used as other methods.