`Buffer.isBuffer()`

Tests whether a value is a Buffer instance.

Since Node 0.x Spec ↗

Syntax

Buffer.isBuffer(obj)

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`obj`	`any`	Yes	The value to test.

Returns

boolean — true if obj is a Buffer.

Examples

console.log(Buffer.isBuffer(Buffer.from('x')));
console.log(Buffer.isBuffer('x'));

Output

true
false

function toText(data) {
  return Buffer.isBuffer(data) ? data.toString('utf8') : String(data);
}
console.log(toText(Buffer.from('hi')));

Output

hi

Notes

Useful when an API may hand back either a string or a Buffer (e.g. `fs.readFile` with or without an encoding). Note a Buffer is also a `Uint8Array`, so `instanceof Uint8Array` is true too.