Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; public class Main { public static final int ZERO = 0; public static final int ONE = 1; public static final short MAX_BYTE = 0xff; public static short bytesToShort(byte[] bytes) { return (short) ((bytes[ONE] & MAX_BYTE) | (bytes[ZERO] & MAX_BYTE) << Byte.SIZE); } public static short bytesToShort(byte[] bytes, int offset) { return (short) ((bytes[offset + ONE] & MAX_BYTE) | (bytes[offset] & MAX_BYTE) << Byte.SIZE); } }