std:: as_bytes, std:: as_writable_bytes

From cppreference.com
Defined in header <span>
template < class T, std:: size_t N >

std:: span < const std:: byte , S /* see below */ >

as_bytes ( std:: span < T, N > s ) noexcept ;
(1) (since C++20)
template < class T, std:: size_t N >

std:: span < std:: byte , S /* see below */ >

as_writable_bytes ( std:: span < T, N > s ) noexcept ;
(2) (since C++20)

Obtains a view to the object representation of the elements of the span s .

If N is std::dynamic_extent , the extent of the returned span S is also std::dynamic_extent ; otherwise it is sizeof ( T ) * N .

as_writable_bytes only participates in overload resolution if std:: is_const_v < T > is false .

Return value

1) A span constructed with { reinterpret_cast < const std:: byte * > ( s. data ( ) ) , s. size_bytes ( ) } .
2) A span constructed with { reinterpret_cast < std:: byte * > ( s. data ( ) ) , s. size_bytes ( ) } .

Example

#include <cstddef>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <span>
 
void print(float const x, std::span<const std::byte> const bytes)
{
    std::cout << std::setprecision(6) << std::setw(8) << x << " = { "
              << std::hex << std::uppercase << std::setfill('0');
    for (auto const b : bytes)
        std::cout << std::setw(2) << std::to_integer<int>(b) << ' ';
    std::cout << std::dec << "}\n";
}
 
int main()
{
    /* mutable */ float data[1]{3.141592f};
 
    auto const const_bytes = std::as_bytes(std::span{data});
 
    print(data[0], const_bytes);
 
    auto const writable_bytes = std::as_writable_bytes(std::span{data});
 
    // Change the sign bit that is the MSB (IEEE 754 Floating-Point Standard).
    writable_bytes[3] |= std::byte{0B1000'0000};
 
    print(data[0], const_bytes);
}

Possible output:

 3.14159 = { D8 0F 49 40 }
-3.14159 = { D8 0F 49 C0 }

See also

implicitly creates objects in given storage with the object representation reused
(function template)
(C++17)
the byte type
(enum)