Question

Is there a static method for converting a string, int, etc. into a byte/byte array?

I already know about this method:

    public static byte[] FromString(string Input)
    {
        ASCIIEncoding ByteEncoder = new ASCIIEncoding();
        return ByteEncoder.GetBytes(Input);
    }

But i was wondering if there is anything better. Would it be a problem if I made a static instance of the ASCII encoder to use?

Also – in terms of performance – how does the ASCII conversion method above compare with doing it via a for loop or other such methods that are multi-line solutions?

Also – when should I use ASCII vs. Unicode?

William

Answer 1

There’s no static method. There are, however, static instances of Encoding.

System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes().

In terms of performance, you should trust the BCL. It’s been written carefully so you should expect near-optimal code, and certainly better handling of all the edge cases one does not always think about.