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Node.js

Streams and Buffers in Node.js

Streams and Buffers

11

#description

In Node.js, Streams and Buffers are fundamental concepts for working with large amounts of data. Streams are a way to handle reading or writing to a resource piece by piece, instead of loading the whole resource into memory at once. Buffers are used to store raw binary data, which can be manipulated directly and efficiently in memory.

Node.js provides four types of streams - Readable, Writable, Duplex and Transform. A Readable stream is used for reading data from a source, whereas a Writable stream is used for writing data into a destination. A Duplex stream is both readable and writable, and a Transform stream is used for transforming data as it goes through the stream.

One of the key advantages of using Streams in Node.js is that it allows us to work with large amounts of data efficiently, by processing it in small chunks or streams. This means that we can avoid loading large amounts of data into memory and reduce buffering times while still processing the data effectively.

Buffers, on the other hand, are fixed-size chunks of memory that store raw binary data. Buffers can be used to manipulate binary data, such as images or audio files, and are used extensively in network communication protocols.

In summary, Streams and Buffers are fundamental concepts in Node.js for efficiently handling large amounts of data. Streams allow us to work with data in small chunks, while Buffers provide a way to store and manipulate binary data efficiently in memory.

March 25, 2023

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