Buffer.js

TODO: this readme.

Check out the comments and tests until then.

A circular array buffer is much like a queue in that it is FIFO and provides O(1) time for read/write operations; however, it is also optimized for streaming data in that a fixed capacity can be applied. See Wikipedia

Features

Aside from the standard read/write concept of a buffer, this guy also has...

Prototypal type checking
Two operational modes supporting both continuous growth and fixed buffer length.
Basic O(n) search of contents (just in case)

API Reference

BufferJS tries to follow as many buffer and javascript conventions as possible, so this shouldn't feel unfamiliar.

Constructor Options

capacity - an intial capacity (defaults to 20)
GROW_MODE - an initial growth mode (defaults to Buffer.GROW_MODE.OVERWRITE)
DATA_TYPE - optional data type to enforce (defaults to null for no enforcement)

var options = {
  capacity: 42,
  GROW_MODE: Buffer.GROW_MODE.CONTINUOUS,
  DATA_TYPE: MyObject
};
var buffer = new Buffer(options);

Attributes

length - get the current number of elements in the buffer

Methods

write - add an element to the buffer

buffer.write({some: 'JSON', or: 'anything really'})
buffer.write(function(){console.log('i need this to be called later')})
buffer.write(42)
buffer.write(myObject);

read - dequeue the oldest element in the buffer

var element = buffer.read();
$.post('/game/actions', element);

contains - simple O(n) search for containment

buffer.write("hey")
buffer.contains("hey") //returns true
buffer.contains(1234) //returns false

setDataType - apply a specific JS Object type to enforce across the buffer, only to be called on empty buffers

buffer.setDataType(Number)   //enforces both primitive and OO numbers
buffer.write("not a number") //throws a Buffer.InvalidTypeWriteException

buffer.setDataType(String)   //enforces both primitive and OO strings
buffer.write("a string")     //will work

buffer.setDataType(MyObject) //works with custom objects as well
buffer.setDataType(Function) //or functions, etc...

setGrowMode - apply one of the two grow modes to the buffer

buffer.setGrowMode(Buffer.GROW_MODE.CONTINUOUS) //don't limit the buffer's size
buffer.setGrowMode(Buffer.GROW_MODE.OVERWRITE) //buffer's capacity is fixed, oldest will be overwritten

Buffer.DEFAULT - set application-wide defaults for all new buffers

//For example, if you need all buffers to have a certain configuration
Buffer.DEFAULT.GROW_MODE = Buffer.GROW_MODE.CONTINOUS
Buffer.DEFAULT.DATA_TYPE = MyObject;
Buffer.DEFAULT.capacity = 42;

winfred / bufferjs