Converting Hexadecimal Strings to Bytes in Python

In Python, converting hexadecimal strings to bytes is a common task. Hex strings represent binary data in a human-readable format. This article will explore various methods to achieve this conversion effectively.

Method 1: Using bytearray.fromhex() (Recommended for Python 3 and 2.7)

bytearray.fromhex() directly converts a hexadecimal string into a bytearray object. The bytearray acts like a mutable array of bytes.

hex_string = "deadbeef"
bytearray_object = bytearray.fromhex(hex_string)

This method provides a convenient solution for Python 2.7 and Python 3.

Method 2: Using bytes.fromhex() (Python 3 Only)

Similar to bytearray.fromhex(), Python 3 offers bytes.fromhex() to create a bytes object directly from a hex string. The bytes object is immutable and represents a sequence of immutable bytes.

hex_string = "deadbeef"
bytes_object = bytes.fromhex(hex_string)

This method is recommended for Python 3 as it returns a more suitable type.

Method 3: Using String Decoding (Python 2.7 Only)

In Python 2.7, you can decode a hexadecimal string into a string using the decode() method with the "hex" argument.

hex_string = "deadbeef"
string_data = hex_string.decode("hex")

While this method does not create a bytearray or bytes object, it provides a workaround for older versions of Python.