What is the difference between Buffer and string in Node.js?

Question

Accepted Answer

**Buffer** — binary data. **String** — text data.

**Buffer:**
- Binary data.
- Fixed size.
- For file I/O, network.
- More efficient.

```javascript
// Create buffer
const buf = Buffer.from("Hello", "utf-8");
console.log(buf);  // <Buffer 48 65 6c 6c 6f>

// From file
const fs = require("fs");
const data = fs.readFileSync("file.txt");
```

**String:**
- Text data.
- Unicode.
- Human-readable.

```javascript
const str = "Hello";
console.log(str);  // Hello
```

**Conversion:**
```javascript
// String to Buffer
const buf = Buffer.from("Hello", "utf-8");

// Buffer to String
const str = buf.toString("utf-8");
```

**When to use:**
- **Buffer** — binary data, files, network.
- **String** — text, JSON, URLs.

Node.js: What is the difference between Buffer and string in Node.js?