public static short toShort(byte[] bytes, int offset, final int length) {
        if (length != SIZEOF_SHORT || offset + length > bytes.length) {
            throw explainWrongLengthOrOffset(bytes, offset, length, SIZEOF_SHORT);
        }
        return ConverterHolder.BEST_CONVERTER.toShort(bytes, offset, length);
    }
Converts a byte array to a short value

@param bytes  byte array
@param offset offset into array
@param length length, has to be {@link #SIZEOF_SHORT}
@return the short value
@throws IllegalArgumentException if length is not {@link #SIZEOF_SHORT} or if there's not
                                 enough room in the array at the offset indicated.
stroom-bytebuffer/src/main/java/stroom/bytebuffer/hbase/Bytes.java