Allocates a new buffer containing the given {str}.

Allocates a new buffer of {size} octets.

Allocates a new buffer containing the given {array} of octets.

Produces a Buffer backed by the same allocated memory as the given {ArrayBuffer}/{SharedArrayBuffer}.

Allocates a new buffer containing the given {array} of octets.

Copies the passed {buffer} data onto a new {Buffer} instance.

Compares buf with target and returns a number indicating whether bufcomes before, after, or is the same as target in sort order. Comparison is based on the actual sequence of bytes in each Buffer.

• 0 is returned if target is the same as buf
• 1 is returned if target should come _before_buf when sorted.
• -1 is returned if target should come _after_buf when sorted.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf1 = Buffer.from('ABC');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('BCD');
const buf3 = Buffer.from('ABCD');

console.log(buf1.compare(buf1));
// Prints: 0
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2));
// Prints: -1
console.log(buf1.compare(buf3));
// Prints: -1
console.log(buf2.compare(buf1));
// Prints: 1
console.log(buf2.compare(buf3));
// Prints: 1
console.log([buf1, buf2, buf3].sort(Buffer.compare));
// Prints: [ <Buffer 41 42 43>, <Buffer 41 42 43 44>, <Buffer 42 43 44> ]
// (This result is equal to: [buf1, buf3, buf2].)

The optional targetStart, targetEnd, sourceStart, and sourceEndarguments can be used to limit the comparison to specific ranges within targetand buf respectively.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf1 = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]);
const buf2 = Buffer.from([5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4]);

console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 5, 9, 0, 4));
// Prints: 0
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 0, 6, 4));
// Prints: -1
console.log(buf1.compare(buf2, 5, 6, 5));
// Prints: 1

ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE is thrown if targetStart < 0, sourceStart < 0,targetEnd > target.byteLength, or sourceEnd > source.byteLength.

Copies data from a region of buf to a region in target, even if the targetmemory region overlaps with buf.

TypedArray.prototype.set() performs the same operation, and is available for all TypedArrays, including Node.js Buffers, although it takes different function arguments.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

// Create two `Buffer` instances.
const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);
const buf2 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26).fill('!');

for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
  // 97 is the decimal ASCII value for 'a'.
  buf1[i] = i + 97;
}

// Copy `buf1` bytes 16 through 19 into `buf2` starting at byte 8 of `buf2`.
buf1.copy(buf2, 8, 16, 20);
// This is equivalent to:
// buf2.set(buf1.subarray(16, 20), 8);

console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, 25));
// Prints: !!!!!!!!qrst!!!!!!!!!!!!!

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

// Create a `Buffer` and copy data from one region to an overlapping region
// within the same `Buffer`.

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);

for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
  // 97 is the decimal ASCII value for 'a'.
  buf[i] = i + 97;
}

buf.copy(buf, 0, 4, 10);

console.log(buf.toString());
// Prints: efghijghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Creates and returns an iterator of [index, byte] pairs from the contents of buf.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

// Log the entire contents of a `Buffer`.

const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');

for (const pair of buf.entries()) {
  console.log(pair);
}
// Prints:
//   [0, 98]
//   [1, 117]
//   [2, 102]
//   [3, 102]
//   [4, 101]
//   [5, 114]

Returns true if both buf and otherBuffer have exactly the same bytes,false otherwise. Equivalent to buf.compare(otherBuffer) === 0.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf1 = Buffer.from('ABC');
const buf2 = Buffer.from('414243', 'hex');
const buf3 = Buffer.from('ABCD');

console.log(buf1.equals(buf2));
// Prints: true
console.log(buf1.equals(buf3));
// Prints: false

Fills buf with the specified value. If the offset and end are not given, the entire buf will be filled:

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

// Fill a `Buffer` with the ASCII character 'h'.

const b = Buffer.allocUnsafe(50).fill('h');

console.log(b.toString());
// Prints: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

value is coerced to a uint32 value if it is not a string, Buffer, or integer. If the resulting integer is greater than 255 (decimal), buf will be filled with value & 255.

If the final write of a fill() operation falls on a multi-byte character, then only the bytes of that character that fit into buf are written:

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

// Fill a `Buffer` with character that takes up two bytes in UTF-8.

console.log(Buffer.allocUnsafe(5).fill('\u0222'));
// Prints: <Buffer c8 a2 c8 a2 c8>

If value contains invalid characters, it is truncated; if no valid fill data remains, an exception is thrown:

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(5);

console.log(buf.fill('a'));
// Prints: <Buffer 61 61 61 61 61>
console.log(buf.fill('aazz', 'hex'));
// Prints: <Buffer aa aa aa aa aa>
console.log(buf.fill('zz', 'hex'));
// Throws an exception.

Equivalent to buf.indexOf() !== -1.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('this is a buffer');

console.log(buf.includes('this'));
// Prints: true
console.log(buf.includes('is'));
// Prints: true
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer')));
// Prints: true
console.log(buf.includes(97));
// Prints: true (97 is the decimal ASCII value for 'a')
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer example')));
// Prints: false
console.log(buf.includes(Buffer.from('a buffer example').slice(0, 8)));
// Prints: true
console.log(buf.includes('this', 4));
// Prints: false

If value is:

• a string, value is interpreted according to the character encoding inencoding.
• a Buffer or Uint8Array, value will be used in its entirety. To compare a partial Buffer, use buf.slice().
• a number, value will be interpreted as an unsigned 8-bit integer value between 0 and 255.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('this is a buffer');

console.log(buf.indexOf('this'));
// Prints: 0
console.log(buf.indexOf('is'));
// Prints: 2
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer')));
// Prints: 8
console.log(buf.indexOf(97));
// Prints: 8 (97 is the decimal ASCII value for 'a')
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer example')));
// Prints: -1
console.log(buf.indexOf(Buffer.from('a buffer example').slice(0, 8)));
// Prints: 8

const utf16Buffer = Buffer.from('\u039a\u0391\u03a3\u03a3\u0395', 'utf16le');

console.log(utf16Buffer.indexOf('\u03a3', 0, 'utf16le'));
// Prints: 4
console.log(utf16Buffer.indexOf('\u03a3', -4, 'utf16le'));
// Prints: 6

If value is not a string, number, or Buffer, this method will throw aTypeError. If value is a number, it will be coerced to a valid byte value, an integer between 0 and 255.

If byteOffset is not a number, it will be coerced to a number. If the result of coercion is NaN or 0, then the entire buffer will be searched. This behavior matches String.prototype.indexOf().

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const b = Buffer.from('abcdef');

// Passing a value that's a number, but not a valid byte.
// Prints: 2, equivalent to searching for 99 or 'c'.
console.log(b.indexOf(99.9));
console.log(b.indexOf(256 + 99));

// Passing a byteOffset that coerces to NaN or 0.
// Prints: 1, searching the whole buffer.
console.log(b.indexOf('b', undefined));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', {}));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', null));
console.log(b.indexOf('b', []));

If value is an empty string or empty Buffer and byteOffset is less than buf.length, byteOffset will be returned. If value is empty andbyteOffset is at least buf.length, buf.length will be returned.

Creates and returns an iterator of buf keys (indices).

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');

for (const key of buf.keys()) {
  console.log(key);
}
// Prints:
//   0
//   1
//   2
//   3
//   4
//   5

Identical to buf.indexOf(), except the last occurrence of value is found rather than the first occurrence.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('this buffer is a buffer');

console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('this'));
// Prints: 0
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer'));
// Prints: 17
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(Buffer.from('buffer')));
// Prints: 17
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(97));
// Prints: 15 (97 is the decimal ASCII value for 'a')
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf(Buffer.from('yolo')));
// Prints: -1
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer', 5));
// Prints: 5
console.log(buf.lastIndexOf('buffer', 4));
// Prints: -1

const utf16Buffer = Buffer.from('\u039a\u0391\u03a3\u03a3\u0395', 'utf16le');

console.log(utf16Buffer.lastIndexOf('\u03a3', undefined, 'utf16le'));
// Prints: 6
console.log(utf16Buffer.lastIndexOf('\u03a3', -5, 'utf16le'));
// Prints: 4

If value is not a string, number, or Buffer, this method will throw aTypeError. If value is a number, it will be coerced to a valid byte value, an integer between 0 and 255.

If byteOffset is not a number, it will be coerced to a number. Any arguments that coerce to NaN, like {} or undefined, will search the whole buffer. This behavior matches String.prototype.lastIndexOf().

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const b = Buffer.from('abcdef');

// Passing a value that's a number, but not a valid byte.
// Prints: 2, equivalent to searching for 99 or 'c'.
console.log(b.lastIndexOf(99.9));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf(256 + 99));

// Passing a byteOffset that coerces to NaN.
// Prints: 1, searching the whole buffer.
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', undefined));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', {}));

// Passing a byteOffset that coerces to 0.
// Prints: -1, equivalent to passing 0.
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', null));
console.log(b.lastIndexOf('b', []));

If value is an empty string or empty Buffer, byteOffset will be returned.

Reads a signed, big-endian 64-bit integer from buf at the specified offset.

Integers read from a Buffer are interpreted as two's complement signed values.

Reads a signed, little-endian 64-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

Integers read from a Buffer are interpreted as two's complement signed values.

Reads an unsigned, big-endian 64-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

This function is also available under the readBigUint64BE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]);

console.log(buf.readBigUInt64BE(0));
// Prints: 4294967295n

Reads an unsigned, little-endian 64-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

This function is also available under the readBigUint64LE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff]);

console.log(buf.readBigUInt64LE(0));
// Prints: 18446744069414584320n

Reads a 64-bit, big-endian double from buf at the specified offset.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);

console.log(buf.readDoubleBE(0));
// Prints: 8.20788039913184e-304

Reads a 64-bit, little-endian double from buf at the specified offset.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);

console.log(buf.readDoubleLE(0));
// Prints: 5.447603722011605e-270
console.log(buf.readDoubleLE(1));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads a 32-bit, big-endian float from buf at the specified offset.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);

console.log(buf.readFloatBE(0));
// Prints: 2.387939260590663e-38

Reads a 32-bit, little-endian float from buf at the specified offset.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([1, 2, 3, 4]);

console.log(buf.readFloatLE(0));
// Prints: 1.539989614439558e-36
console.log(buf.readFloatLE(1));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads a signed, big-endian 16-bit integer from buf at the specified offset.

Integers read from a Buffer are interpreted as two's complement signed values.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0, 5]);

console.log(buf.readInt16BE(0));
// Prints: 5

Reads a signed, little-endian 16-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

Integers read from a Buffer are interpreted as two's complement signed values.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0, 5]);

console.log(buf.readInt16LE(0));
// Prints: 1280
console.log(buf.readInt16LE(1));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads a signed, big-endian 32-bit integer from buf at the specified offset.

Integers read from a Buffer are interpreted as two's complement signed values.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0, 0, 0, 5]);

console.log(buf.readInt32BE(0));
// Prints: 5

Reads a signed, little-endian 32-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

Integers read from a Buffer are interpreted as two's complement signed values.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0, 0, 0, 5]);

console.log(buf.readInt32LE(0));
// Prints: 83886080
console.log(buf.readInt32LE(1));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads a signed 8-bit integer from buf at the specified offset.

Integers read from a Buffer are interpreted as two's complement signed values.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([-1, 5]);

console.log(buf.readInt8(0));
// Prints: -1
console.log(buf.readInt8(1));
// Prints: 5
console.log(buf.readInt8(2));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads byteLength number of bytes from buf at the specified offsetand interprets the result as a big-endian, two's complement signed value supporting up to 48 bits of accuracy.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);

console.log(buf.readIntBE(0, 6).toString(16));
// Prints: 1234567890ab
console.log(buf.readIntBE(1, 6).toString(16));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.
console.log(buf.readIntBE(1, 0).toString(16));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads byteLength number of bytes from buf at the specified offsetand interprets the result as a little-endian, two's complement signed value supporting up to 48 bits of accuracy.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);

console.log(buf.readIntLE(0, 6).toString(16));
// Prints: -546f87a9cbee

Reads an unsigned, big-endian 16-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

This function is also available under the readUint16BE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56]);

console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(0).toString(16));
// Prints: 1234
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(1).toString(16));
// Prints: 3456

Reads an unsigned, little-endian 16-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

This function is also available under the readUint16LE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56]);

console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(0).toString(16));
// Prints: 3412
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(1).toString(16));
// Prints: 5634
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(2).toString(16));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads an unsigned, big-endian 32-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

This function is also available under the readUint32BE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78]);

console.log(buf.readUInt32BE(0).toString(16));
// Prints: 12345678

Reads an unsigned, little-endian 32-bit integer from buf at the specifiedoffset.

This function is also available under the readUint32LE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78]);

console.log(buf.readUInt32LE(0).toString(16));
// Prints: 78563412
console.log(buf.readUInt32LE(1).toString(16));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads an unsigned 8-bit integer from buf at the specified offset.

This function is also available under the readUint8 alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([1, -2]);

console.log(buf.readUInt8(0));
// Prints: 1
console.log(buf.readUInt8(1));
// Prints: 254
console.log(buf.readUInt8(2));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads byteLength number of bytes from buf at the specified offsetand interprets the result as an unsigned big-endian integer supporting up to 48 bits of accuracy.

This function is also available under the readUintBE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);

console.log(buf.readUIntBE(0, 6).toString(16));
// Prints: 1234567890ab
console.log(buf.readUIntBE(1, 6).toString(16));
// Throws ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE.

Reads byteLength number of bytes from buf at the specified offsetand interprets the result as an unsigned, little-endian integer supporting up to 48 bits of accuracy.

This function is also available under the readUintLE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x12, 0x34, 0x56, 0x78, 0x90, 0xab]);

console.log(buf.readUIntLE(0, 6).toString(16));
// Prints: ab9078563412

Returns a new Buffer that references the same memory as the original, but offset and cropped by the start and end indices.

This is the same behavior as buf.subarray().

This method is not compatible with the Uint8Array.prototype.slice(), which is a superclass of Buffer. To copy the slice, useUint8Array.prototype.slice().

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');

const copiedBuf = Uint8Array.prototype.slice.call(buf);
copiedBuf[0]++;
console.log(copiedBuf.toString());
// Prints: cuffer

console.log(buf.toString());
// Prints: buffer

Returns a new Buffer that references the same memory as the original, but offset and cropped by the start and end indices.

Specifying end greater than buf.length will return the same result as that of end equal to buf.length.

This method is inherited from TypedArray.prototype.subarray().

Modifying the new Buffer slice will modify the memory in the original Bufferbecause the allocated memory of the two objects overlap.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

// Create a `Buffer` with the ASCII alphabet, take a slice, and modify one byte
// from the original `Buffer`.

const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);

for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
  // 97 is the decimal ASCII value for 'a'.
  buf1[i] = i + 97;
}

const buf2 = buf1.subarray(0, 3);

console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
// Prints: abc

buf1[0] = 33;

console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
// Prints: !bc

Specifying negative indexes causes the slice to be generated relative to the end of buf rather than the beginning.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');

console.log(buf.subarray(-6, -1).toString());
// Prints: buffe
// (Equivalent to buf.subarray(0, 5).)

console.log(buf.subarray(-6, -2).toString());
// Prints: buff
// (Equivalent to buf.subarray(0, 4).)

console.log(buf.subarray(-5, -2).toString());
// Prints: uff
// (Equivalent to buf.subarray(1, 4).)

Interprets buf as an array of unsigned 16-bit integers and swaps the byte order in-place. Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE if buf.length is not a multiple of 2.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);

console.log(buf1);
// Prints: <Buffer 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08>

buf1.swap16();

console.log(buf1);
// Prints: <Buffer 02 01 04 03 06 05 08 07>

const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);

buf2.swap16();
// Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE.

One convenient use of buf.swap16() is to perform a fast in-place conversion between UTF-16 little-endian and UTF-16 big-endian:

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('This is little-endian UTF-16', 'utf16le');
buf.swap16(); // Convert to big-endian UTF-16 text.

Interprets buf as an array of unsigned 32-bit integers and swaps the byte order in-place. Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE if buf.length is not a multiple of 4.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);

console.log(buf1);
// Prints: <Buffer 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08>

buf1.swap32();

console.log(buf1);
// Prints: <Buffer 04 03 02 01 08 07 06 05>

const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);

buf2.swap32();
// Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE.

Interprets buf as an array of 64-bit numbers and swaps byte order in-place. Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE if buf.length is not a multiple of 8.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf1 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5, 0x6, 0x7, 0x8]);

console.log(buf1);
// Prints: <Buffer 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08>

buf1.swap64();

console.log(buf1);
// Prints: <Buffer 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01>

const buf2 = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3]);

buf2.swap64();
// Throws ERR_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE.

Returns a JSON representation of buf. JSON.stringify() implicitly calls this function when stringifying a Buffer instance.

Buffer.from() accepts objects in the format returned from this method. In particular, Buffer.from(buf.toJSON()) works like Buffer.from(buf).

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from([0x1, 0x2, 0x3, 0x4, 0x5]);
const json = JSON.stringify(buf);

console.log(json);
// Prints: {"type":"Buffer","data":[1,2,3,4,5]}

const copy = JSON.parse(json, (key, value) => {
  return value && value.type === 'Buffer' ?
    Buffer.from(value) :
    value;
});

console.log(copy);
// Prints: <Buffer 01 02 03 04 05>

Decodes buf to a string according to the specified character encoding inencoding. start and end may be passed to decode only a subset of buf.

If encoding is 'utf8' and a byte sequence in the input is not valid UTF-8, then each invalid byte is replaced with the replacement character U+FFFD.

The maximum length of a string instance (in UTF-16 code units) is available as constants.MAX_STRING_LENGTH.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf1 = Buffer.allocUnsafe(26);

for (let i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
  // 97 is the decimal ASCII value for 'a'.
  buf1[i] = i + 97;
}

console.log(buf1.toString('utf8'));
// Prints: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
console.log(buf1.toString('utf8', 0, 5));
// Prints: abcde

const buf2 = Buffer.from('tést');

console.log(buf2.toString('hex'));
// Prints: 74c3a97374
console.log(buf2.toString('utf8', 0, 3));
// Prints: té
console.log(buf2.toString(undefined, 0, 3));
// Prints: té

Creates and returns an iterator for buf values (bytes). This function is called automatically when a Buffer is used in a for..of statement.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.from('buffer');

for (const value of buf.values()) {
  console.log(value);
}
// Prints:
//   98
//   117
//   102
//   102
//   101
//   114

for (const value of buf) {
  console.log(value);
}
// Prints:
//   98
//   117
//   102
//   102
//   101
//   114

Writes string to buf at offset according to the character encoding inencoding. The length parameter is the number of bytes to write. If buf did not contain enough space to fit the entire string, only part of string will be written. However, partially encoded characters will not be written.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.alloc(256);

const len = buf.write('\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be', 0);

console.log(`${len} bytes: ${buf.toString('utf8', 0, len)}`);
// Prints: 12 bytes: ½ + ¼ = ¾

const buffer = Buffer.alloc(10);

const length = buffer.write('abcd', 8);

console.log(`${length} bytes: ${buffer.toString('utf8', 8, 10)}`);
// Prints: 2 bytes : ab

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian.

value is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);

buf.writeBigInt64BE(0x0102030405060708n, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian.

value is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);

buf.writeBigInt64LE(0x0102030405060708n, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian.

This function is also available under the writeBigUint64BE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);

buf.writeBigUInt64BE(0xdecafafecacefaden, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer de ca fa fe ca ce fa de>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);

buf.writeBigUInt64LE(0xdecafafecacefaden, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer de fa ce ca fe fa ca de>

This function is also available under the writeBigUint64LE alias.

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian. The valuemust be a JavaScript number. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a JavaScript number.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);

buf.writeDoubleBE(123.456, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 40 5e dd 2f 1a 9f be 77>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian. The valuemust be a JavaScript number. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a JavaScript number.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(8);

buf.writeDoubleLE(123.456, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 77 be 9f 1a 2f dd 5e 40>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a JavaScript number.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeFloatBE(0xcafebabe, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 4f 4a fe bb>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a JavaScript number.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeFloatLE(0xcafebabe, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer bb fe 4a 4f>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian. The valuemust be a valid signed 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a signed 16-bit integer.

The value is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);

buf.writeInt16BE(0x0102, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 01 02>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian. The valuemust be a valid signed 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a signed 16-bit integer.

The value is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);

buf.writeInt16LE(0x0304, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 04 03>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian. The valuemust be a valid signed 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a signed 32-bit integer.

The value is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeInt32BE(0x01020304, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 01 02 03 04>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian. The valuemust be a valid signed 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a signed 32-bit integer.

The value is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeInt32LE(0x05060708, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 08 07 06 05>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset. value must be a valid signed 8-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a signed 8-bit integer.

value is interpreted and written as a two's complement signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);

buf.writeInt8(2, 0);
buf.writeInt8(-2, 1);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 02 fe>

Writes byteLength bytes of value to buf at the specified offsetas big-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined whenvalue is anything other than a signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);

buf.writeIntBE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 12 34 56 78 90 ab>

Writes byteLength bytes of value to buf at the specified offsetas little-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than a signed integer.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);

buf.writeIntLE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer ab 90 78 56 34 12>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian. The valuemust be a valid unsigned 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when valueis anything other than an unsigned 16-bit integer.

This function is also available under the writeUint16BE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeUInt16BE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16BE(0xbeef, 2);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer de ad be ef>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian. The valuemust be a valid unsigned 16-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than an unsigned 16-bit integer.

This function is also available under the writeUint16LE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeUInt16LE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16LE(0xbeef, 2);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer ad de ef be>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as big-endian. The valuemust be a valid unsigned 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when valueis anything other than an unsigned 32-bit integer.

This function is also available under the writeUint32BE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeUInt32BE(0xfeedface, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer fe ed fa ce>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset as little-endian. The valuemust be a valid unsigned 32-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than an unsigned 32-bit integer.

This function is also available under the writeUint32LE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeUInt32LE(0xfeedface, 0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer ce fa ed fe>

Writes value to buf at the specified offset. value must be a valid unsigned 8-bit integer. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than an unsigned 8-bit integer.

This function is also available under the writeUint8 alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);

buf.writeUInt8(0x3, 0);
buf.writeUInt8(0x4, 1);
buf.writeUInt8(0x23, 2);
buf.writeUInt8(0x42, 3);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 03 04 23 42>

Writes byteLength bytes of value to buf at the specified offsetas big-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than an unsigned integer.

This function is also available under the writeUintBE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);

buf.writeUIntBE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 12 34 56 78 90 ab>

Writes byteLength bytes of value to buf at the specified offsetas little-endian. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. Behavior is undefined when value is anything other than an unsigned integer.

This function is also available under the writeUintLE alias.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(6);

buf.writeUIntLE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer ab 90 78 56 34 12>

Allocates a new Buffer of size bytes. If fill is undefined, theBuffer will be zero-filled.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.alloc(5);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00>

If size is larger than constants.MAX_LENGTH or smaller than 0, ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE is thrown.

If fill is specified, the allocated Buffer will be initialized by calling buf.fill(fill).

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.alloc(5, 'a');

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 61 61 61 61 61>

If both fill and encoding are specified, the allocated Buffer will be initialized by calling buf.fill(fill, encoding).

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.alloc(11, 'aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=', 'base64');

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 68 65 6c 6c 6f 20 77 6f 72 6c 64>

Calling Buffer.alloc() can be measurably slower than the alternative Buffer.allocUnsafe() but ensures that the newly created Buffer instance contents will never contain sensitive data from previous allocations, including data that might not have been allocated for Buffers.

A TypeError will be thrown if size is not a number.

Allocates a new Buffer of size bytes. If size is larger than constants.MAX_LENGTH or smaller than 0, ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE is thrown.

The underlying memory for Buffer instances created in this way is not initialized. The contents of the newly created Buffer are unknown and_may contain sensitive data_. Use Buffer.alloc() instead to initializeBuffer instances with zeroes.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(10);

console.log(buf);
// Prints (contents may vary): <Buffer a0 8b 28 3f 01 00 00 00 50 32>

buf.fill(0);

console.log(buf);
// Prints: <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00>

A TypeError will be thrown if size is not a number.

The Buffer module pre-allocates an internal Buffer instance of size Buffer.poolSize that is used as a pool for the fast allocation of newBuffer instances created using Buffer.allocUnsafe(),Buffer.from(array), Buffer.concat(), and the deprecatednew Buffer(size) constructor only when size is less than or equal to Buffer.poolSize >> 1 (floor of Buffer.poolSize divided by two).

Use of this pre-allocated internal memory pool is a key difference between calling Buffer.alloc(size, fill) vs. Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill). Specifically, Buffer.alloc(size, fill) will never use the internal Bufferpool, while Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)_will_ use the internalBuffer pool if size is less than or equal to half Buffer.poolSize. The difference is subtle but can be important when an application requires the additional performance that Buffer.allocUnsafe() provides.

Allocates a new Buffer of size bytes. If size is larger than constants.MAX_LENGTH or smaller than 0, ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE is thrown. A zero-length Buffer is created if size is 0.

The underlying memory for Buffer instances created in this way is not initialized. The contents of the newly created Buffer are unknown and_may contain sensitive data_. Use buf.fill(0) to initialize such Buffer instances with zeroes.

When using Buffer.allocUnsafe() to allocate new Buffer instances, allocations under 4 KB are sliced from a single pre-allocated Buffer. This allows applications to avoid the garbage collection overhead of creating many individually allocated Buffer instances. This approach improves both performance and memory usage by eliminating the need to track and clean up as many individual ArrayBuffer objects.

However, in the case where a developer may need to retain a small chunk of memory from a pool for an indeterminate amount of time, it may be appropriate to create an un-pooled Buffer instance using Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow() and then copying out the relevant bits.

import { Buffer } from 'buffer';

// Need to keep around a few small chunks of memory.
const store = [];

socket.on('readable', () => {
  let data;
  while (null !== (data = readable.read())) {
    // Allocate for retained data.
    const sb = Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(10);

    // Copy the data into the new allocation.
    data.copy(sb, 0, 0, 10);

    store.push(sb);
  }
});

A TypeError will be thrown if size is not a number.