.net - How can you nibble (nybble) bytes in C#?

Question

I am looking to learn how to get two nibbles (high and low) from a byte using C# and how to assembly two nibbles back to a byte.

I am using C# and .Net 4.0 if that helps with what methods can be done and what libraries may be available.

Answer 1

You can 'mask off' 4 bits of a byte to have a nibble, then shift those bits to the rightmost position in the byte:

byte x = 0xA7;  // For example...
byte nibble1 = (byte) (x & 0x0F);
byte nibble2 = (byte)((x & 0xF0) >> 4);
// Or alternatively...
nibble2 = (byte)((x >> 4) & 0x0F);
byte original = (byte)((nibble2 << 4) | nibble1);