ArrayBuffer
The ArrayBuffer object is used to represent a generic raw binary data buffer.
It is an array of bytes, often referred to in other languages as a "byte array". You cannot directly manipulate the contents of an ArrayBuffer; instead, you create one of the typed array objects or a DataView object which represents the buffer in a specific format, and use that to read and write the contents of the buffer.
The ArrayBuffer() constructor creates a new ArrayBuffer of the given length in bytes. You can also get an array buffer from existing data, for example, from a Base64 string or from a local file.
ArrayBuffer is a transferable object.
Description
Resizing ArrayBuffers
ArrayBuffer objects can be made resizable by including the maxByteLength option when calling the ArrayBuffer() constructor. You can query whether an ArrayBuffer is resizable and what its maximum size is by accessing its resizable and maxByteLength properties, respectively. You can assign a new size to a resizable ArrayBuffer with a resize() call. New bytes are initialized to 0.
These features make resizing ArrayBuffers more efficient — otherwise, you have to make a copy of the buffer with a new size. It also gives JavaScript parity with WebAssembly in this regard (Wasm linear memory can be resized with WebAssembly.Memory.prototype.grow()).
Constructor
ArrayBuffer()-
Creates a new
ArrayBufferobject.
Static properties
ArrayBuffer[@@species]-
The constructor function that is used to create derived objects.
Static methods
ArrayBuffer.isView()-
Returns
trueifargis one of the ArrayBuffer views, such as typed array objects or aDataView. Returnsfalseotherwise.
Instance properties
These properties are defined on ArrayBuffer.prototype and shared by all ArrayBuffer instances.
ArrayBuffer.prototype.byteLength-
The size, in bytes, of the
ArrayBuffer. This is established when the array is constructed and can only be changed using theArrayBuffer.prototype.resize()method if theArrayBufferis resizable. ArrayBuffer.prototype.constructor-
The constructor function that created the instance object. For
ArrayBufferinstances, the initial value is theArrayBufferconstructor. ArrayBuffer.prototype.maxByteLength-
The read-only maximum length, in bytes, that the
ArrayBuffercan be resized to. This is established when the array is constructed and cannot be changed. ArrayBuffer.prototype.resizable-
Read-only. Returns
trueif theArrayBuffercan be resized, orfalseif not. ArrayBuffer.prototype[@@toStringTag]-
The initial value of the
@@toStringTagproperty is the string"ArrayBuffer". This property is used inObject.prototype.toString().
Instance methods
ArrayBuffer.prototype.resize()-
Resizes the
ArrayBufferto the specified size, in bytes. ArrayBuffer.prototype.slice()-
Returns a new
ArrayBufferwhose contents are a copy of thisArrayBuffer's bytes frombegin(inclusive) up toend(exclusive). If eitherbeginorendis negative, it refers to an index from the end of the array, as opposed to from the beginning.
Examples
Creating an ArrayBuffer
In this example, we create a 8-byte buffer with a Int32Array view referring to the buffer:
js
const buffer = new ArrayBuffer(8);
const view = new Int32Array(buffer);
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-arraybuffer-objects |
Browser compatibility
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