JavaScript - convert string to bytes array under Node.js

In this short article, we would like to show, how using JavaScript, convert string to bytes array under Node.js.

Quick solution:

const buffer = Buffer.from(string, 'utf8');     // where `buffer` has `Buffer` type

or:

const buffer = Buffer.from(string, 'utf16le');  // where `buffer` has `Buffer` type

Practical examples

Hint: converting string to bytes you need to select the encoding type that should be used to produce bytes array.

1. to UTF-8 bytes:

const toBytes = (string) => Array.from(Buffer.from(string, 'utf8'));


// Usage example:

const bytes = toBytes('Some text here...');

console.log(bytes);

Note: go to this article to see pure JavaScript solution.

Output:

[
   83, 111, 109, 101, 32, 116, 101, 120, 116, 32, 104, 101, 114, 101, 46,  46,  46
]

2. to UTF-16 LE bytes:

const toBytes = (string) => Array.from(Buffer.from(string, 'utf16le'));


// Usage example:

const bytes = toBytes('Some text here...');

console.log(bytes);

Output:

[
  83,   0, 111,   0, 109,   0, 101,   0,  32,   0, 116,   0, 101,   0, 120,   0, 116,   0,
  32,   0, 104,   0, 101,   0, 114,   0, 101,   0,  46,   0,  46,   0,  46,   0
]

See also

1. ASCII Table

2. ASCII Table in plain/text

3. JavaScript - convert string to bytes array - Universal Approach

4. JavaScript - convert bytes array to string - Universal Approach