The system endianness can be detected by a variety of methods, the most commonly used is the union or pointer method. 1. Use the union: Assign uint32_t to 0x01020304. If the lowest address byte is 0x04, it is a small-endian, and if it is 0x01, it is a big-endian; 2. Use pointer conversion: Assign uint16_t to 0x0102, read the byte order through the uint8_t pointer, [0]==0x02 and [1]==0x01 is a small-endian, otherwise it is a big-endian; 3. Compilation-time detection: define the constexpr function to determine whether the (char)&int variable is 1, and combine if constexpr to determine the endian sequence during the compilation period; 4. Runtime macro encapsulation: Use (char*)&int to determine whether the lowest address byte is 1, and then it is a small-endian. Modern x86/x64 is mostly small-endian, and network protocols use big-endian, and ARM is usually small-endian. Combinations and pointer methods are widely applicable, and it is recommended to encapsulate as functions or constexpr to improve portability and security.
Detection of system endianness in C is a common requirement, especially when dealing with cross-platform data exchange or binary/network protocol parsing. Here is a simple, portable example of whether the current system is Big-Endian or Little-Endian.

? Method 1: Use union to judge
This is the most common and efficient way to take advantage of the features of union
shared memory:
#include <iostream> int main() { union { uint32_t i; uint8_t c[4]; } u = {0x01020304}; if (uc[0] == 0x04) { std::cout << "Little Endian\n"; } else if (uc[0] == 0x01) { std::cout << "Big Endian\n"; } else { std::cout << "Unknown Endianness\n"; } return 0; }
illustrate:

- Set the value of
uint32_t
to0x01020304
- In small-endian systems, the low bytes are stored at the low address, so
c[0]
is0x04
- In big-endian systems, high bytes are stored at low addresses, so
c[0]
is0x01
? Method 2: Use pointer to cast type
#include <iostream> int main() { uint16_t value = 0x0102; uint8_t* ptr = reinterpret_cast<uint8_t*>(&value); if (ptr[0] == 0x02 && ptr[1] == 0x01) { std::cout << "Little Endian\n"; } else if (ptr[0] == 0x01 && ptr[1] == 0x02) { std::cout << "Big Endian\n"; } else { std::cout << "Unknown\n"; } return 0; }
This method has a similar principle, but does not use union
, but accesses the bytes of an integer through a pointer.
? Method 3: Compile-time detection (C 17 and above)
If you want to make a judgment during the compilation period, you can use constexpr
:

#include <iostream> constexpr bool is_little_endian() { int x = 1; return *reinterpret_cast<char*>(&x) == 1; } int main() { if constexpr (is_little_endian()) { std::cout << "Little Endian (compile-time)\n"; } else { std::cout << "Big Endian (compile-time)\n"; } return 0; }
This method is effective on compilers that support constexpr
pointer dereferences (such as GCC and Clang usually support).
?? Notes
- Most modern x86/x64 architectures are small-endian
- Network protocols usually use big endian (also called network endianness)
- The ARM architecture is configurable, but it usually runs in small-endian mode.
- Don't rely on undefined behavior: using
union
is allowed in C, which may be considered undefined behavior in some cases (but mainstream compilers support it)
? More secure runtime detection macro (recommended encapsulation)
#include <iostream> bool is_little_endian() { int num = 1; return (*(char*)&num == 1); } int main() { std::cout << (is_little_endian() ? "Little Endian" : "Big Endian") << std::endl; return 0; }
Basically that's it. Which method to choose depends on whether you need to make a compilation period judgment, whether you pursue portability, or whether you are used in an embedded environment. The most commonly used are the union or pointer method.
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