Java NIO Byte Buffer

Buffer is an encapsulation for array of bytes. This class provisions some useful methods to read/write data, and switch between read and write.

indicators

The Buffer class has a byte[] inside to store actual data in byte format. There are several indices used to indicate possible read/write position. In all there are 4 variables, mark, position, limit and capacity The relative relationship between them are:

0 <= mark <= position <= limit <= capacity

capacity

It is the length of byte array, unchangeable at all.

limit

It is soft length of byte array. Meaning it is the length of byte that can read/write. Any data that beyond this limit is not readable/writeable.

position

It is the current location of data to read/write

mark

Just an interesting point where you may want to revisit after.

Usage

The basic usage is to instantiate a buffer by

final ByteBuffer b = ByteBuffer.allocate(64);

write into buffer

// this will reset `position` to 0 and limit to capacity
// so as to allow write as many as the capacity is
b.clear();
// this will write so many byte array into the buffer b
b.put("Rugal Bernstein".getBytes());

read from buffer

// once done writing, we have to switch into read mode
// by simply using `flip` method
// it will reset the `position` as 0
b.flip();
// ask how many byte we still have between `position` and `limit`
while(b.hasRemaining()){
  // the `position` increment every time we use `get`
  System.out.print((char) b.get());
  // the loop exits when last byte is `got` from 
}
//> Rugal Bernstein

That is the usage of buffer, remember you must switch between read and write mode by using flip method, otherwise you will not be able to get what you want.