To build high-performance backend systems, you must understand how Node.js manages binary data and large-scale I/O operations.
1The Buffer: Raw Binary Power
Buffers allow you to interact with binary data directly. While strings are easy for humans, Buffers are what the computer actually moves through the network and disk. Every stream you create is essentially a sequence of Buffers moving from A to B.
2Types of Streams
1. Readable: For reading data (e.g., fs.createReadStream).
2. Writable: For writing data (e.g., fs.createWriteStream).
3. Duplex: Both readable and writable (e.g., a TCP socket).
4. Transform: A duplex stream that modifies data as it passes through (e.g., zlib compression).
3Backpressure: The Traffic Controller
What if your read stream is faster than your write stream? This is called backpressure. The .pipe() method automatically manages this, pausing the reader until the writer catches up, ensuring your system doesn't overflow.
