A DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUEST :
The slice() method on bytebuffer is meant to retain existing state. However, it loses the byteOrder and the sliced bytebuffer always comes back as BIG_ENDIAN. Here's an example:

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ByteBuffer foo = ByteBuffer.wrap(new byte[]{4, 0, 0, 0});
        foo.order(LITTLE_ENDIAN);
        System.out.println(foo.getInt(0)); //returns 4
        ByteBuffer bar = foo.slice();
        System.out.println(bar.getInt(0)); //returns 67108864
    }

JUSTIFICATION :
The API is unclear, callers are expected to re-set the byte order on every slice. I believe this makes it almost a bug rather than a feature request.

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
byteBuffer.slice() retains the byteOrder, like:

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ByteBuffer foo = ByteBuffer.wrap(new byte[]{4, 0, 0, 0});
        foo.order(LITTLE_ENDIAN);
        System.out.println(foo.getInt(0)); //returns 4
        ByteBuffer bar = foo.slice();
        System.out.println(bar.getInt(0)); //returns 4
    }

ACTUAL -
byteBuffer.slice() does not retain the byteOrder, like:

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ByteBuffer foo = ByteBuffer.wrap(new byte[]{4, 0, 0, 0});
        foo.order(LITTLE_ENDIAN);
        System.out.println(foo.getInt(0)); //returns 4
        ByteBuffer bar = foo.slice();
        System.out.println(bar.getInt(0)); //returns 67108864
    }

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ByteBuffer foo = ByteBuffer.wrap(new byte[]{4, 0, 0, 0});
        foo.order(LITTLE_ENDIAN);
        System.out.println(foo.getInt(0)); //returns 4
        ByteBuffer bar = foo.slice();
        System.out.println(bar.getInt(0)); //returns 67108864 - should return 4.
    }
---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
The caller needs to re-set the byteorder manually, like:

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ByteBuffer foo = ByteBuffer.wrap(new byte[]{4, 0, 0, 0});
        foo.order(LITTLE_ENDIAN);
        System.out.println(foo.getInt(0)); //returns 4
        ByteBuffer bar = foo.slice();
        bar.order(foo.order()); //Re-set byteorder to foo
        System.out.println(bar.getInt(0)); //returns 4
    }