Java/C# communication over TCP - Signed/unsigned bytes pro

Question

I have an application in Java which sends messages over TCP. And another application which is C# which listens to this message and responds. The problem is, JAVA bytes are signed and it encrypts the message and sends it- Has many negative numbers in the encrypted message. Now at C# side,i need to decrypt the message- Since C# bytes are unsigned, im not sure what happens to the negative numbers being sent. Will my decryption fail?

Answer 1

Bytes can be viewed either as numbers (signed or unsigned) or as "arrays" of 8 bits.

• When you encrypt some data and send it as a sequence of bytes, what you are effectively sending is a sequence of arrays of bits. And that is what is being received.

• When you have an array of 8 bits on your hand, you can view it as either a signed or unsigned number. But the act of viewing it as one or the other does not transform the bit pattern.

Therefore, if you are sending encrypted data as a sequence of bytes it does not matter if the sender and receiver's idea of a bytes ... as numbers ... is the same.

Will my decryption fail?

No.