Why are both little- and big-endian in use?

Question

Why are both little- and big-endian still in use today, after ~40 years of binary computer-science? Are there algorithms or storage formats that work better

Answer 1

Both big and little endian have their advantages and disadvantages. Even if one were clearly superior (which is not the case), there is no way that any legacy architecture would ever be able to switch endianness, so I'm afraid you're just going to have to learn to live with it.