What is the Difference Between an Array and an ArrayBuffer? Last Updated : 02 Jul, 2024 Comments Improve Suggest changes Like Article Like Report The arrays and ArrayBuffers serve different purposes and are used in the different contexts. While arrays are used for the general data storage and manipulation. The ArrayBuffers are used for the handling binary data. Understanding the differences between these two data structures is essential for the efficiently managing data in various scenarios.What is an Array?An array is a data structure that can hold multiple values under a single name and those values can be accessed using the indices. JavaScript arrays are dynamic meaning they can grow and shrink in size. They can store elements of the different types including the numbers, strings, objects and other arrays.Syntax: let array = [element1, element2, element3, ...];let array = [element1, element2, element3, ...];Example: This illustrates an array "fruits" with three elements, logs the first element ("Apple"), adds "Date" to the array, and logs the updated array contents. JavaScript let fruits = ["Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"]; console.log(fruits[0]); fruits.push("Date"); console.log(fruits); OutputApple [ 'Apple', 'Banana', 'Cherry', 'Date' ] What is an ArrayBuffer?An ArrayBuffer is a low-level binary data buffer. It is used to handle raw binary data and is primarily used in the scenarios where you need to work with the streams of binary data such as in WebSockets or when manipulating data from the files. An ArrayBuffer is fixed in the size once created and cannot be resized. The Data within an ArrayBuffer is accessed through views like TypedArray objects.Syntax:let arrayBuffer = new ArrayBuffer(length);Example: This illustrates a 16-byte ArrayBuffer and accesses it as an 8-bit unsigned integer array, setting the first element to 255 and logging its value. JavaScript let buffer = new ArrayBuffer(16); let view = new Uint8Array(buffer); view[0] = 255; console.log(view[0]); Output255 Difference Between Array and ArrayBuffer in javascriptCharacteristicsArray ArrayBuffer PurposeThe Store and manipulate collections of the elements The Handle raw binary dataTypeThe High-level and dynamic The Low-level and fixed sizeData Storage Can store any data types Stores binary data onlyResizableYesNoAccess Method Index-based Accessed through TypedArray viewsExample Use Cases The General data manipulation lists The Binary data manipulation and file handlingSyntaxlet array = [element1, element2, ...]; let buffer = new ArrayBuffer(length);Examplelet fruits = ["Apple", "Banana"]; let buffer = new ArrayBuffer(16);MutableYesNo Comment More infoAdvertise with us Next Article What is the Difference Between an Array and an ArrayBuffer? M mguru4c05q Follow Improve Article Tags : Web Technologies JavaScript Similar Reads JavaScript ArrayBuffer Reference ArrayBuffer is used to represent a generic, fixed-length raw binary data buffer. The contents of an ArrayBuffer cannot be directly manipulated and can only be accessed through a DataView Object or one of the typed array objects. These Objects are used to read and write the contents of the buffer. Sy 2 min read JavaScript arrayBuffer byteLength Property The Javascript arrayBuffer.byteLength is a property in JavaScript that return the length of an ArrayBuffer in a byte. ArrayBuffer is an object which is used to represent fixed-length binary data. Difference between property and function in javascript. Property in JavaScript is nothing but a value w 4 min read What is Buffer in Node.js ? In Node, Buffer is used to store and manage binary data. Pure JavaScript is great with Unicode-encoded strings, but it does not handle binary data very well. It is not problematic when we perform an operation on data at the browser level but at the time of dealing with TCP stream and performing a re 3 min read Underscore.js _.isArrayBuffer() Function Underscore.js is a JavaScript library that provides a lot of useful functions that help in the programming in a big way like the map, filter, invoke, etc even without using any built-in objects. The _.isArrayBuffer() function is an inbuilt function in Underscore.js library of JavaScript which is use 1 min read Node.js util.types.isArrayBuffer() Method The util.types.isArrayBuffer() method is an inbuilt application programming interface of the util module which is used to check for built-in ArrayBuffer type objects in the node.js. Syntax: util.types.isArrayBuffer( value ) Parameters: This method accepts single parameter as mentioned above and desc 1 min read JavaScript ArrayBuffer isView() Method The Javascript ArrayBuffer.isView() is an inbuilt function in JavaScript that is used to check whether the given argument for the function is a typed array or not. Syntax: ArrayBuffer.isView(p) Parameters: It accepts a parameter either in the form of a typed array or something else. Return Values: I 2 min read JavaScript typedArray.buffer() and typedArray.byteLength() with Example The Javascript typedArray.buffer() is a property in JavaScript which represents the ArrayBuffer referenced by a typedArray and the property typedArray.byteLength() represents the length of the typedArray in bytes. Syntax: typedArray.buffer typedarray.byteLength Parameters: It does not accept any par 1 min read JavaScript ArrayBuffer.prototype.detached In JavaScript, the ArrayBuffer.prototype.detached property indicates whether an ArrayBuffer instance has been transferred (detached) from its current context. This is especially important for web workers when dealing with large binary data for communication. Syntaxconst isDetached = arrayBufferInsta 2 min read JavaScript SharedArrayBuffer.prototype.slice() Method JavaScript SharedArrayBuffer.prototype.slice() method is specifically for the objects of the SharedArrayBuffer type. It is used to create a new SharedArrayBuffer object that references the same memory region as the original but with a different range. Syntax:sharedArrayBufferVariable.slice(start, en 2 min read JavaScript ArrayBuffer() Constructor JavaScript ArrayBuffer Constructor is used to create a new ArrayBuffer object. ArrayBuffer object is used to represent a generic, fixed-length raw binary data buffer. This object can only be created with the new keyword. If the object is created without the new keyword it will throw a TypeError Synt 2 min read Like