Why Visual Studio memory addresses shuffle based on view?

Question

When viewing memory addresses in Visual Studio, I noticed the arrangement changes depending on how the memory is viewed. Example:

int a = 3;

int* b = &a;

1 byte: 0x 03 00 00 00

2 byte: 0x 0003

4 byte: 0x 00000003

Now with a small number like this, it's not a big deal. But when viewing a larger number...

int a = 1012346589;

int* b = &a;

1 byte: 0x dd 2e 57 3c

2 byte: 0x 2edd 3c57

4 byte: 0x 3c572edd

That is all over the place, and it really trips me up because my intuitive assumption would be this, which is consistent with other tools I've used:

1 byte: 0x 00 00 00 03

2 byte: 0x 0003

4 byte: 0x 00000003

or

1 byte: 0x 3c 57 2e dd

2 byte: 0x 3c57 2edd

4 byte: 0x 3c572edd

I've used other memory debugging tools and this is the first where I've seen it arranged in this way. Is this just a quirk of visual studio, is it a setting?

At first, I thought maybe the 1 byte view was hiding the first 3 bytes because they were 0s, but after testing with larger numbers I found that wasn't the case, and the different views a sometimes produce completely different arrangements.

Your processor is little-endian. That's quite a fundamental property of its design, you'd better get used to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness — Hans Passant
– Hans Passant, Commented Jan 9, 2024 at 18:10
Hi, Hans Passant's comment was helpful. I'm posting his comment as an answer. You can mark it (click the check mark to the left of the answer) so that it can help more people — Wenbin Geng
– Wenbin Geng, Commented Jan 11, 2024 at 3:22

Wenbin Geng · Accepted Answer · 2024-01-11 03:21:31Z

0

As Hans Passant said, your processor is little-endian. This is a very basic property of its design and you'd better get used to it.

Please refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness

answered Jan 11, 2024 at 3:21

Wenbin Geng

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