bitcoinj/bitcoinj

Replace remaining usages of Guava's `BaseEncoding`

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#3,982 opened on Jan 5, 2026

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EnhancementGuavagood first issue

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Description

As of today we are using:

  • BaseEncoding.base16() -- can be replaced with our existing ByteUtils methods: formatHex and parseHex -- see PR #4011
  • BaseEncoding.base32() -- can be replaced with Bouncy Castle Base32 -- see PR #4012
  • BaseEncoding.base64() -- can be replaced with Bouncy Castle Base64 update: we should use java.util.Base64 -- see PR #4017

This helps implement Issue #2105 and although we want to also migrate away from Bouncy Castle (Issue #3912) migrating away from Guava is a short-term goal so I think it is OK to use Bouncy Castle (for now) to achieve it.

Update: for the Base32 and Base64 implementations, create methods that are identical (or very similar) to the Guava methods and place them in a class named BaseUtils in org.bitcoinj.core.internal.

I would also recommend doing this as a series of 3 PRs: one each for base16, base32, and base64.

Update: it looks like we can use java.util.Base64 as it is available in both Java 8 and Android API 26 (Android 8.0) -- see Android reference documentation: java.util.Base64

Contributor guide

Research direction
Implement a BaseUtils class in org.bitcoinj.core.internal with methods similar to Guava's BaseEncoding for base16, base32, and base64. Use ByteUtils for base16, Bouncy Castle Base32 for base32, and java.util.Base64 for base64. Submit three separate PRs.
Tech stack
java
Domain
backend
Issue type
Refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
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Half day
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Active
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Clear
Prerequisites
JavaGit
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65