Introduction to minizlib

minizlib is a powerful and efficient Node.js library designed for handling
compression and decompression tasks. It provides a simple and straightforward interface
for dealing with zlib streams with minimal overhead. In this guide, we’ll explore the
various APIs offered by minizlib and help you understand how to leverage them
for your projects.

Installation

  
    npm install minizlib
  

Basic Usage

Below is a simple example showing how to compress and decompress data using minizlib:

Compression Example

  
    const MiniPass = require('minipass');
    const zlib = require('minizlib');
    
    const input = 'Hello, World!';
    const compress = new zlib.Gzip();
    const source = new MiniPass();
    const destination = new MiniPass();
    source.pipe(compress).pipe(destination);
    
    source.end(input);
    
    let compressedData = '';
    destination.on('data', chunk => {
      compressedData += chunk;
    });
    
    destination.on('end', () => {
      console.log('Compressed Data:', compressedData);
    });
  

Decompression Example

  
    const MiniPass = require('minipass');
    const zlib = require('minizlib');
    
    const compressedData = ...; // Assume this contains compressed data from the previous example
    const decompress = new zlib.Unzip();
    const source = new MiniPass();
    const destination = new MiniPass();
    source.pipe(decompress).pipe(destination);
    
    source.end(compressedData);
    
    let decompressedData = '';
    destination.on('data', chunk => {
      decompressedData += chunk;
    });
    
    destination.on('end', () => {
      console.log('Decompressed Data:', decompressedData);
    });
  

API References

Here are some useful minizlib APIs you might utilize:

zlib.Gzip

  
    const gzip = new zlib.Gzip(options);
  

The Gzip class is used to create a stream for compression.

zlib.Gunzip

  
    const gunzip = new zlib.Gunzip(options);
  

The Gunzip class is used to create a stream for decompression.

zlib.Deflate

  
    const deflate = new zlib.Deflate(options);
  

The Deflate class is used to create a stream for general-purpose compression.

zlib.Inflate

  
    const inflate = new zlib.Inflate(options);
  

The Inflate class is used to create a stream for general-purpose decompression.

Application Example

Let’s create an application that uses minizlib to compress and decompress files:

Application Code

  
    const fs = require('fs');
    const zlib = require('minizlib');
    const MiniPass = require('minipass');
    
    function compressFile(inputPath, outputPath) {
      return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
        const gzip = new zlib.Gzip();
        const source = fs.createReadStream(inputPath);
        const destination = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
        source.pipe(gzip).pipe(destination);
        
        destination.on('finish', resolve);
        destination.on('error', reject);
      });
    }
    
    function decompressFile(inputPath, outputPath) {
      return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
        const gunzip = new zlib.Gunzip();
        const source = fs.createReadStream(inputPath);
        const destination = fs.createWriteStream(outputPath);
        source.pipe(gunzip).pipe(destination);
        
        destination.on('finish', resolve);
        destination.on('error', reject);
      });
    }
    
    // Usage Example:
    compressFile('example.txt', 'example.txt.gz')
      .then(() => decompressFile('example.txt.gz', 'example_uncompressed.txt'))
      .then(() => console.log('Compression and decompression completed'))
      .catch(console.error);
  

The above application demonstrates how to compress and decompress files using minizlib effectively.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve covered the basics of minizlib and demonstrated its core APIs with practical examples. Whether you’re compressing or decompressing data, minizlib offers a straightforward and efficient way to handle these operations in Node.js.

Experiment with the examples and start integrating compression and decompression capabilities into your own applications!

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