Mastering ArrayBuffer and Typed Arrays: The Key to Efficient Data Manipulation in JavaScript

Unlock the Power of Low-Level Data Structures for Optimal Performance

Photo by Donald Giannatti on Unsplash

In the world of web development, JavaScript has evolved from a simple scripting language to a powerful tool capable of handling complex tasks. One area where JavaScript shines is in its ability to manipulate data efficiently.

ArrayBuffer and Typed Arrays are low-level data structures that provide a direct and efficient way to interact with binary data, offering significant performance improvements over traditional JavaScript arrays.

Understanding ArrayBuffer

An ArrayBuffer is a low-level data structure that represents a fixed-length raw binary data buffer in memory. It serves as the foundation for Typed Arrays and provides a way to interact with binary data at a low level.

ArrayBuffers are particularly useful when working with binary data from external sources, such as files or network protocols, or when dealing with large datasets that require efficient memory management.

Here’s an example of creating an ArrayBuffer with a length of 8 bytes:

const buffer = new ArrayBuffer(8);