randomfill

What is randomfill?

The randomfill npm package is a utility that provides methods to fill a buffer with random bytes. This package is particularly useful when you need to generate random data for cryptographic purposes, such as creating keys, salts, or nonces in security-related applications.

What are randomfill's main functionalities?

Filling a buffer with random bytes

This feature allows you to fill a pre-allocated buffer with random bytes. The function takes a buffer and a callback function as arguments. The callback function is called with any error and the filled buffer.

const randomFill = require('randomfill');
const buffer = Buffer.alloc(10); // create a buffer of 10 bytes
randomFill.randomFill(buffer, function(err, buf) {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(buf); // Outputs the buffer filled with random bytes
});

Other packages similar to randomfill

crypto

The 'crypto' module is a core Node.js module that provides cryptographic functionality. It includes a similar function, `crypto.randomFillSync()`, which can also fill a buffer with random bytes. Compared to 'randomfill', 'crypto' is built into Node.js and does not require an additional installation, offering a broader range of cryptographic functions.

randombytes

The 'randombytes' package provides an easy way to generate random bytes asynchronously or synchronously. Similar to 'randomfill', it focuses on generating random data but does not require a pre-allocated buffer, which might be more convenient in scenarios where buffer management is not necessary.

README

randomfill

randomfill from node that works in the browser. In node you just get crypto.randomBytes, but in the browser it uses .crypto/msCrypto.getRandomValues

var randomFill = require('randomfill');
var buf
randomFill.randomFillSync(16);//get 16 random bytes
randomFill.randomFill(16, function (err, resp) {
  // resp is 16 random bytes
});