transform hex to binary and vice versa, but keeping them as integers

I know how to transform a hexadecimal integer into a binary string using the bin function, but is there an easy way to transform a hex integer into a binary integer?

Phrased differently, is there an easy way to transform the string representation of a binary integer ("0b111") into an integer representing a binary integer (0b111)

Using bin() results in a hexadecimal string

>>> bin(0x7)
'0b111'
>>> type(bin(0x7))
<class 'str'>

But what I want to achieve is this:

>>> magic(0x7)
0b111
>>> type(magic(0x7))
<class 'int'>

(The magic function is just a placeholder, essentially I want a way to transform the string representation of the binary integer into a binary integer)

• Question 1: Is this somehow possible, if yes how?
• Question 2: Does it make sense to do so? Is it better to work with string representations or integer representations of hexadecimal and binary numbers?

1 Answer

There is no difference between the what you call a 'hexadecimal integer', and a 'binary integer' - they are both just integers:

>>> 0x07
7
>>> 0b111
7
>>> type(0x07)
<type 'int'>
>>> type(0b111)
<type 'int'>
>>> 0x07 == 0b111
True
>>> 0x07 is 0b111 # This is true in the special case of small integers
True

The 0x or 0b prefix is just a way for you to tell the interpreter how to read the input you provided.

As for converting a binary string representation of an integer into an actual integer, you can do so with int(string, base):

>>> int('0b111', 2)
7