Python bytearray()

The python bytearray function is used to return a bytearray object. It can either convert objects to bytearray objects or construct an empty bytearray object of the desired size.

Source

Syntax:

bytearray([source[, encoding[, errors]]])

bytearray() Parameters

bytearray() takes three optional parameters:

1. source (Optional) – source initializes the array of bytes

Depending on the type of source, the bytearray() function follows some specific rules.

• If there is no parameter, an empty byte array is returned.
• If the source is a string, the encoding argument must be used.
• The array will have the same size as the source and will be initialized with null bytes if the source is an integer.
• If the source is a buffer interface object, the bytes array will be initialized with a read-only buffer from the object.
• If the source is an iterable object, the elements must all be integers in the range 0 to 256.

1. encoding (Optional) – If the source is a string, the string’s encoding is returned.
2. errors (Optional) – if the source is a string when encoding fails, it takes action.

Return value from bytearray()

The bytearray() function returns a byte array with the specified size and initialization settings.

Example 1: Array of bytes from a string

                    

string = "Python is my favorite subject."



# string with encoding 'utf-8'

arr = bytearray(string, 'utf-8')

print(arr)

Output:

bytearray(b'Python is my favorite subject.')



                

Example 2: Array of bytes of given integer size

                    

size = 5



arr = bytearray(size)

print(arr)

Output:

bytearray(b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00')



                

Example 3: Array of bytes from an iterable list

                    

rList = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]



arr = bytearray(rList)

print(arr)



Output:

bytearray(b'\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05')

                

What is a Bytearray in Python?

The bytearray() method returns a bytearray object, which is an array of bytes. It returns a mutable series of integers between 0 and 256. The source parameter of the ByteArray is used to initialize the array. Such as:

Method 1:

Bytearray() transforms a string to bytes using str.encode() if the encoding and errors parameters are given

Source Code:

                    

str = "Geeksforgeeks"

  

# Using Unicode 8 and 16 to 

# encode the string

array1 = bytearray(str, 'utf-8')

array2 = bytearray(str, 'utf-16')

  

print(array1)

print(array2)



Output:

bytearray(b'Geeksforgeeks')

bytearray(b'\xff\xfeG\x00e\x00e\x00k\x00s\x00f\x00o\x00r\x00g\x00e\x00e\x00k\x00s\x00')



                

Method 2:

If the value is an integer, it produces an array of that size with null bytes.

Source Code:

                    

size = 3

  

# will make an array of the #specified size and fill it with null 

# bytes

array1 = bytearray(size)

  

print(array1)



Output:

bytearray(b'\x00\x00\x00')

                

Method 3:

The read-only buffer will be utilized to initialize the bytes array if it is an Object.

Source Code

                    

# Bytearray is created from a byte literal

arr1 = bytearray(b"abcd")

  

#the value being iterated

for value in arr1:

    print(value)

      

# Create a bytearray object

arr2 = bytearray(b"aaaacccc")

  

# count bytes from the buffer

print("Count of c is:", arr2.count(b"c"))



Output:

97

98

99

100

Count of c is: 4

                

Method 4: 

If an Iterable(range 0=x 256) is used as the array’s initial contents

Source Code

                    

# simple list of integers

list = [1, 2, 3, 4]

  

# iterable as source

array = bytearray(list)

  

print(array)

print("Count of bytes:", len(array))



Output:

bytearray(b'\x01\x02\x03\x04')

Count of bytes: 4

                

Method 5:

If there is no source, a zero-sized array is constructed.

Source Code

                    

# There will be a size 0 array formed.

  

# iterable as source

array = bytearray()

  

print(array)



Output:

bytearray(b'')

                

What is the Difference Between Bytes and bytearray in Python?

The bytes and bytearray classes both feature arrays of bytes with values ranging from 0 to 255 for each byte. The main difference is that a bytes object is immutable, which means that once formed, its elements cannot be changed. A bytearray object, on the other hand, allows you to change its elements.

Program to append bytes and bytearrays

The ‘+ operator’ can be used to catenate bytes and bytearray objects. Note that the catenated result inherits the first argument’s type, so a+b produces bytes object, while b+a produces a bytearray.

Source Code

                    

>>> a = bytes(3)

>>> a

b'\x00\x00\x00'



>>> b = bytearray(4)

>>> b

bytearray(b'\x00\x00\x00\x00')



>>> a+b

b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00'



>>> b+a

bytearray(b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00')

                

What is a Bytearray?

A byte array is simply a collection of bytes. The bytearray() method returns a bytearray object, which is an array of the specified bytes. The bytearray class is a mutable array of numbers ranging from 0 to 256.

Example to convert integer to bytearrays

                    

>>> a = bytes(3)

>>> a

b'\x00\x00\x00'



>>> b = bytearray(4)

>>> b

bytearray(b'\x00\x00\x00\x00')



>>> a+b

b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00'



>>> b+a

bytearray(b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00')

                

Is Bytearray mutable in python?

Yes, the Bytearray function in Python is mutable. This indicates that the elements of the function can be easily altered. 

For example:

                    

b = bytearray('abc', 'UTF-8') 



print(b) 



b[1] = 65 # mutable 



print(b)



Output:



bytearray(b'abc')

bytearray(b'aAc')