binary data in source code form

[Skaperen]

If it's binary, don' t put it in a string. Use a byte array.

that's really what i mean.  it's still written like a string.  what i am wondering is if ints could be a more efficient way to express it.  my goal is to make the file that looks like python source code as small as possible.

data = b'\000\377\377\000\000\377\377\003\000\177\177\005\006\377\377\001'

vs.

data = ( 72056494543077123, 35886981611257601 )

vs.

data = 1329207713684792564064364514848538369

it looks like int would be more efficient.

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Base64 is how binary images are stored in source fairly frequently.  Not sure if that helps you or not.

that is one of the first ways i looked at. but it is rather inefficient. it's better than hexadecimal, but only by 50% more. in terms of the convenience of available tools for conversion, it is a good choice. but look at how you would embed it in source code. you would have a big string of the base64 characters and the calls to convert that string. that would take up a lot of source code space.