@thi.ng/bitstream
Advanced tools
ES6 iterator based read/write bit streams with support for variable word widths
@thi.ng/bitstream is a TypeScript/JavaScript library for working with bit-level data streams. It provides utilities for reading, writing, and manipulating bits in a highly efficient manner. This package is useful for applications that require low-level data processing, such as encoding/decoding, compression, and cryptographic operations.
BitStreamWriter
The BitStreamWriter class allows you to write individual bits or groups of bits to a stream. This is useful for creating custom binary formats or for bit-level data compression.
const { BitStreamWriter } = require('@thi.ng/bitstream');
const writer = new BitStreamWriter();
writer.write(0b101, 3); // write 3 bits
writer.write(0b1111, 4); // write 4 bits
console.log(writer.bytes()); // Uint8Array containing the written bitsBitStreamReader
The BitStreamReader class allows you to read individual bits or groups of bits from a stream. This is useful for parsing custom binary formats or for bit-level data decompression.
const { BitStreamReader } = require('@thi.ng/bitstream');
const reader = new BitStreamReader(new Uint8Array([0b10111100]));
console.log(reader.read(3)); // read 3 bits, output: 5 (0b101)
console.log(reader.read(4)); // read 4 bits, output: 15 (0b1111)Bit manipulation utilities
The package provides various utility functions for manipulating individual bits within a byte or larger data structure. These functions include setting, clearing, toggling, and getting the value of specific bits.
const { setBit, clearBit, toggleBit, getBit } = require('@thi.ng/bitstream');
let byte = 0b00001111;
byte = setBit(byte, 7); // set the 7th bit, byte becomes 0b10001111
byte = clearBit(byte, 3); // clear the 3rd bit, byte becomes 0b10000111
byte = toggleBit(byte, 0); // toggle the 0th bit, byte becomes 0b10000110
console.log(getBit(byte, 7)); // get the 7th bit, output: 1bit-buffer is a library for reading and writing bits to a buffer. It provides similar functionality to @thi.ng/bitstream, including bit-level reading and writing, but it is more focused on working with buffers rather than streams.
bitwise is a library that provides a collection of bitwise operations for JavaScript. It includes utilities for bit manipulation, similar to @thi.ng/bitstream, but it does not provide stream-based reading and writing capabilities.
bitjs is a JavaScript library for bit-level operations, including reading and writing bits, as well as bit manipulation. It offers similar functionality to @thi.ng/bitstream but is less comprehensive in terms of stream handling.
[!NOTE] This is one of 209 standalone projects, maintained as part of the @thi.ng/umbrella monorepo and anti-framework.
🚀 Please help me to work full-time on these projects by sponsoring me on GitHub. Thank you! ❤️
ES6 iterator based read/write bit streams with support for variable word widths.
STABLE - used in production
Search or submit any issues for this package
yarn add @thi.ng/bitstream
ESM import:
import * as bit from "@thi.ng/bitstream";
Browser ESM import:
<script type="module" src="https://esm.run/@thi.ng/bitstream"></script>
For Node.js REPL:
const bit = await import("@thi.ng/bitstream");
Package sizes (brotli'd, pre-treeshake): ESM: 1.40 KB
Uint8Array backed, bitwise output stream abstraction (big endian
order). Individual word sizes can range between 1-52 bits (in practice)
and are not fixed (each word can have a different size).
The constructor accepts an optional initial Uint8Array buffer or
buffer size (in bytes) and an optional write start position (in
bits). The buffer will only be written to starting from the given bit
position (even if in the middle of a byte). Default buffer size is 16
bytes, but the array is resized (x2) automatically each time capacity is
reached.
Note: The max. word size of 52 bits is not enforced by the library,
but JS can only represent integers (w/o loss of precision) up to
2^53-1. If you're willing to accept lossy precision for larger values,
technically the max. supported word width is 64 bits.
import { BitOutputStream } from "@thi.ng/bitstream";
out = new BitOutputStream();
// write 3-bit number (only the lowest 3 bits are used, here 0x05)
out.write(0xf5, 3);
// write 7-bit number
out.write(0x66, 7);
// write 32-bit number
out.write(0xdecafbad, 32);
// write values from given iterable (w/ fixed word size, here 16 bits)
out.writeWords([0xaaaa, 0x5555], 16);
// get bytes (only up to current write position)
out.bytes()
// Uint8Array [ 185, 183, 178, 190, 235, 106, 170, 149, 85, 64 ]
In addition to the generic write() method, there's also the slightly
faster writeBit() for writing single bits (the arg MUST be 0 or 1
only).
Using seek(pos), the write position can be repositioned within current
limits (does not attempt to resize backing buffer).
Uint8Array backed bitwise input stream abstraction (big endian order)
with optional start position and read limit (both in bits). All
readers are independent instances, but if obtained from
BitOutputStream will share the same backing buffer as the writer. An
auto-configured input stream can also be obtained via output.reader().
The class too implements the ES6 Iterator API for bitwise read
access, as well as a read() method to read bitfields.
Note: By default, attempting to read beyond capacity will throw an EOF
error. However, all available read methods in BitInputStream support an
optional argument to disable bounds checking (by passing false as extra arg).
These unsafe reads will result in undefined behavior once read past EOF — use
with caution!
Using input.seek(pos), the read position can be repositioned within
stream limits.
// get input from output stream (see above)...
// (for reference, the ^ indicate the start of each bit field)
[...out.reader()].join("")
// "10111001101101111011001010111110111010110110101010101010100101010101010101"
// ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
// obtain new reader
input = out.reader();
// sequentially read bit fields of varying sizes
out.reader().readFields([3, 7, 32, 16, 16]).map(x => x.toString(16))
// [ "5", "66", "decafbad", "aaaa", "5555" ]
// or read fields into object
out.reader().readStruct([["a", 3], ["b", 7], ["c", 32], ["d", 16], ["e", 16]]);
// { a: 5, b: 102, c: 3737844653, d: 43690, e: 21845 }
// or read a number of fixed size words (here also from given pos)
out.reader().seek(10).readWords(4, 16).map(x=>x.toString(16));
// [ 'deca', 'fbad', 'aaaa', '5555' ]
import { BitInputStream } from "@thi.ng/bitstream";
src = new Uint8Array([0xf1,0xe2,0xd3,0xc4,0xb5,0xa6,0x97,0x88]);
// create stream from bit 36
input = new BitInputStream(src, 36);
input.read(12).toString(16);
// 5a6
input.read(4)
// 9
input.read(4)
// 7
input.read(1) // or use input.readBit()
// 1 => msb of last byte (0x88)
input.read(7)
// 8 => low nibble of last byte
In addition to the generic read() method, there's also the slightly
faster readBit() for reading single bits.
For use cases requiring only word sizes <=8 bits and none of the advanced features provided by the above implementations, the package also provides functional barebones alternatives in the form of bitWriter() and bitReader():
import { bitReader, bitWriter } from "@thi.ng/bistream";
const writer = bitWriter();
// write single bit
writer.write(1);
// write unsigned value (up to 8 bits)
writer.write(31, 5);
// retrieve buffer
const bytes = writer.bytes();
// Uint8Array(1) [ 252 ]
// create reader from byte buffer
const reader = bitReader(bytes);
// read single bit
reader();
// 1
// read n-bit unsigned value
reader(5);
// 31
If this project contributes to an academic publication, please cite it as:
@misc{thing-bitstream,
title = "@thi.ng/bitstream",
author = "Karsten Schmidt",
note = "https://thi.ng/bitstream",
year = 2016
}
© 2016 - 2025 Karsten Schmidt // Apache License 2.0
FAQs
ES6 iterator based read/write bit streams with support for variable word widths
The npm package @thi.ng/bitstream receives a total of 155,781 weekly downloads. As such, @thi.ng/bitstream popularity was classified as popular.
We found that @thi.ng/bitstream demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
Did you know?
Socket for GitHub automatically highlights issues in each pull request and monitors the health of all your open source dependencies. Discover the contents of your packages and block harmful activity before you install or update your dependencies.
Application Security
/Security News
Socket CEO Feross Aboukhadijeh and a16z partner Joel de la Garza discuss vibe coding, AI-driven software development, and how the rise of LLMs, despite their risks, still points toward a more secure and innovative future.
Research
/Security News
Threat actors hijacked Toptal’s GitHub org, publishing npm packages with malicious payloads that steal tokens and attempt to wipe victim systems.
Research
/Security News
Socket researchers investigate 4 malicious npm and PyPI packages with 56,000+ downloads that install surveillance malware.