rlp

What is rlp?

The 'rlp' npm package is used for encoding and decoding data using the Recursive Length Prefix (RLP) encoding scheme, which is commonly used in Ethereum and other blockchain technologies. RLP is a method to encode arbitrarily nested arrays of binary data, and it is particularly useful for serializing data structures in a compact and efficient manner.

What are rlp's main functionalities?

Encoding Data

This feature allows you to encode an array of data into RLP format. In this example, the array ['cat', 'dog'] is encoded into its RLP representation.

const rlp = require('rlp');
const encoded = rlp.encode(['cat', 'dog']);
console.log(encoded);

Decoding Data

This feature allows you to decode RLP-encoded data back into its original form. In this example, the RLP-encoded buffer is decoded back into the array ['cat', 'dog'].

const rlp = require('rlp');
const encoded = Buffer.from('c88363617483646f67', 'hex');
const decoded = rlp.decode(encoded);
console.log(decoded);

Other packages similar to rlp

ethereumjs-util

The 'ethereumjs-util' package provides a variety of utility functions for Ethereum, including RLP encoding and decoding. It offers a broader range of functionalities compared to 'rlp', such as cryptographic functions, keccak hashing, and more. It is more comprehensive for Ethereum-specific tasks.

rlp-stream

The 'rlp-stream' package is designed for streaming RLP encoding and decoding. It is useful for handling large datasets or continuous streams of data that need to be processed in chunks. This package is more specialized for streaming use cases compared to 'rlp'.

README

SYNOPSIS

or #ethereumjs on freenode

Recursive Length Prefix Encoding for node.js.

INSTALL

npm install rlp
install with -g if you want to use the cli.

USAGE

var RLP = require('rlp'); 

var nestedList = [ [], [[]], [ [], [[]] ] ];
var encoded = RLP.encode(nestedList);
var decoded = RLP.decode(encoded);
  assert.deepEqual(nestedList, decoded);
});

API

rlp.encode(plain) - RLP encodes an Array, Buffer or String and returns a Buffer.

rlp.decode(encoded, [skipRemainderCheck=false]) - Decodes a RLP encoded Buffer, Array or String and returns a Buffer or an Array of Buffers. If skipRemainderCheck is enabled rlp will just decode the first rlp sequence in the buffer. By default it would through an error if there is more bytes in Buffer than used by rlp sequence.

CLI

rlp decode <hex string>
rlp encode <json String>

TESTS

test uses mocha. To run
npm test