@devgrid/smartbuffer

SmartBuffer

An enhanced and modernized version of ByteBuffer.js for Node.js with TypeScript support, improved performance, and additional features.

Features

• 🚀 Full TypeScript support
• 📦 Zero dependencies (except Long.js for 64-bit integers)
• ⚡ Optimized for Node.js
• 🛡️ Comprehensive error checking
• 🔄 Chainable API
• 💾 Support for various data types and encodings
• 🌐 Browser support via bundlers

Browser Support

While SmartBuffer is primarily optimized for Node.js, it can be used in browsers through modern bundlers like webpack, Rollup, or esbuild. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Using with Bundlers

// webpack/rollup will handle the Buffer polyfill automatically
import { SmartBuffer } from '@devgrid/smartbuffer';

Browser-Specific Considerations

• Requires a Buffer polyfill (automatically handled by most bundlers)
• Some Node.js-specific optimizations may not be available
• Performance may vary compared to Node.js environment
• Recommended to use smaller specialized alternatives for browser-only projects

Example with Browser Bundler

// webpack.config.js
module.exports = {
  resolve: {
    fallback: {
      "buffer": require.resolve("buffer/")
    }
  }
};

// Your application code
import { Buffer } from 'buffer';
import { SmartBuffer } from '@devgrid/smartbuffer';

// Now you can use SmartBuffer in the browser
const buffer = new SmartBuffer();
buffer.writeString("Hello Browser!");

Installation

npm install @devgrid/smartbuffer
# or
yarn add @devgrid/smartbuffer

Basic Usage

import { SmartBuffer } from '@devgrid/smartbuffer';

// Create a new buffer
const buffer = new SmartBuffer();

// Write some data
buffer
  .writeInt32LE(12345)
  .writeString("Hello World")
  .writeFloat64BE(3.14);

// Reset read position
buffer.reset();

// Read data back
const number = buffer.readInt32LE();     // 12345
const string = buffer.readString(11);     // "Hello World"
const float = buffer.readFloat64BE();     // 3.14

Key Features

Multiple Data Types Support

const buffer = new SmartBuffer();

// Integer types
buffer.writeInt8(1);
buffer.writeInt16LE(2);
buffer.writeInt32BE(3);
buffer.writeUInt64LE(4);

// Floating point
buffer.writeFloatLE(1.1);
buffer.writeDoubleBE(2.2);

// BigInt support
buffer.writeBigIntLE(BigInt("9007199254740991"));

// Strings with various encodings
buffer.writeString("Hello");        // UTF8
buffer.writeCString("World");       // Null-terminated
buffer.writeVString("!");           // Length-prefixed

Variable Length Integers

const buffer = new SmartBuffer();

// Write variable length integers
buffer.writeVarint32(1234);
buffer.writeVarint64(9007199254740991);

// Write zigzag encoded variants
buffer.writeVarint32ZigZag(-1234);
buffer.writeVarint64ZigZag(-9007199254740991);

Buffer Operations

const buffer = new SmartBuffer();

// Append data
buffer.write("Hello");
buffer.append(" World");

// Slice and copy
const slice = buffer.slice(0, 5);
const copy = buffer.copy();

// Compact and resize
buffer.compact();
buffer.resize(1024);

// Convert to different formats
const nodeBuffer = buffer.toBuffer();
const arrayBuffer = buffer.toArrayBuffer();
const base64 = buffer.toBase64();
const hex = buffer.toHex();

Advanced Features

const buffer = new SmartBuffer();

// BitSet operations
buffer.writeBitSet([true, false, true]);

// Debug output
console.log(buffer.toDebug());

// Concatenate multiple buffers
const combined = SmartBuffer.concat([buffer1, buffer2, buffer3]);

// Handle different endianness
buffer.writeInt32LE(12345);  // Little-endian
buffer.writeInt32BE(12345);  // Big-endian

API Reference

Constructor

new SmartBuffer(capacity?: number, noAssert?: boolean)

• capacity: Initial buffer size (default: 64)
• noAssert: Skip argument validation for better performance (default: false)

Reading Methods

Method	Description
readInt8()	Read 8-bit signed integer
readUInt8()	Read 8-bit unsigned integer
readInt16LE/BE()	Read 16-bit signed integer
readUInt16LE/BE()	Read 16-bit unsigned integer
readInt32LE/BE()	Read 32-bit signed integer
readUInt32LE/BE()	Read 32-bit unsigned integer
readBigIntLE/BE()	Read 64-bit signed BigInt
readFloatLE/BE()	Read 32-bit float
readDoubleLE/BE()	Read 64-bit float
readString()	Read UTF-8 string
readCString()	Read null-terminated string
readVString()	Read length-prefixed string
readVarint32/64()	Read variable-length integer

Writing Methods

Method	Description
writeInt8()	Write 8-bit signed integer
writeUInt8()	Write 8-bit unsigned integer
writeInt16LE/BE()	Write 16-bit signed integer
writeUInt16LE/BE()	Write 16-bit unsigned integer
writeInt32LE/BE()	Write 32-bit signed integer
writeUInt32LE/BE()	Write 32-bit unsigned integer
writeBigIntLE/BE()	Write 64-bit signed BigInt
writeFloatLE/BE()	Write 32-bit float
writeDoubleLE/BE()	Write 64-bit float
writeString()	Write UTF-8 string
writeCString()	Write null-terminated string
writeVString()	Write length-prefixed string
writeVarint32/64()	Write variable-length integer

Buffer Operations

Method	Description
slice()	Create a new buffer from a portion of this buffer
copy()	Create a copy of this buffer
compact()	Optimize buffer size to content
reset()	Reset read/write positions
reverse()	Reverse buffer contents
append()	Append data to buffer
prepend()	Prepend data to buffer

Differences from ByteBuffer.js

• Node.js only implementation
• Native TypeScript support
• Improved error handling
• Better performance for Node.js environment
• Additional utility methods
• Modern JavaScript features support
• BigInt support for 64-bit integers

License

MIT License

Credits

Based on ByteBuffer.js by Daniel Wirtz.