Buffers Blobs and Byte Array

Buffers

In Node.js, a buffer is a temporary storage for binary data, allowing manipulation and processing of binary data directly. Buffers are instances of the Buffer class and are primarily used for handling raw binary data, such as reading from streams, file operations, network communications, and cryptographic operations. Buffers are mutable and can be resized.

const buffer = Buffer.from('Hello, World!', 'utf-8');
console.log(buffer);

Blobs

Blobs (Binary Large Objects) are used in web browsers and represent raw data that can be of any type, typically used for handling binary data in the context of web APIs like the File API, XMLHttpRequest, and Fetch API. Blobs are immutable, which means once created, their content cannot be modified.

const blob = new Blob(['Hello, World!'], { type: 'text/plain' });
console.log(blob);

ArrayBuffers

ArrayBuffers are another concept used in web browsers, similar to buffers in Node.js, and represent fixed-size binary data buffers. Unlike buffers and blobs, ArrayBuffers are low-level and do not have built-in methods for data manipulation. You need to use TypedArrays, such as Uint8Array, Int16Array, etc., to interact with the data stored in an ArrayBuffer. ArrayBuffers are also immutable once created.

const buffer = new ArrayBuffer(10);
const uint8Array = new Uint8Array(buffer);
console.log(buffer);
console.log(uint8Array);