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In the node.js API 0.6.2, it is stated under the Buffer module:

'binary' - A way of encoding raw binary data into strings by using only the first 8 bits of each character. This encoding method is deprecated and should be avoided in favor of Buffer objects where possible. This encoding will be removed in future versions of Node.

In the Crypto module however, the binary strings are used in many places, e.g. in the .digest() methods. Why do they not comply with their own conventions by using buffers there instead?

gevorg
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Betamos
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  • I guess the API is older than the guideline. Deprecated stuff was once used, until somebody realized that it's a bad idea. – CodesInChaos Nov 23 '11 at 12:28
  • Well you can always fork, make changes and make a pull request. That's how the FOSS works. – Farid Nouri Neshat Nov 23 '11 at 13:16
  • OK, I didn't realize it was by design. @alFReDNSH Not necessarily, that would require specific knowledge or research, which I do not have. However I subscribed to [a related issue](https://github.com/joyent/node/issues/1393) in the issue queue. – Betamos Nov 23 '11 at 13:58
  • Not to mention that this would be backwards-incompatible. Everyone who wants to convert crypto output into a Buffer has to convert the crypto-output strings using the binary encoding. It doesn't seem to me that changing the crypto output is a practical idea. – kgilpin Apr 10 '12 at 02:50

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