i have decoded a base64-encoded string using buffers, now i have noticed something funny:
this works fine, outputs the decoded string as utf8
decoded = new Buffer(data.content, 'base64')
console.log('Decoded:' + decoded);
// outputs content of a markdown file
however, this outputs hex characters:
decoded = new Buffer(data.content, 'base64')
console.log(decoded);
// outputs<Buffer 23 20 33 30 32 34 20 66 ...>
why is this or what am i doing wrong? shouldn't the output be the same?
The argument of console.log is formatted internally in node.js using util.format. (See line 52 of https://github.com/joyent/node/blob/v0.11.4/lib/console.js)
When you call console.log(obj);, obj is passed directly to util.format internally. When you call console.log('Decoded: '+obj), the string concatenation forces .toString() to be called on obj first, and then passes the resulting combined string to util.format internally.
So, in the first case, node.js is formatting a String object, in the second case, it's formatting a Buffer object directly.
From the Mozilla Javascript Docs:
Every object has a toString() method that is automatically called when the object is to be represented as a text value or when an object is referred to in a manner in which a string is expected.
Node.js buffer docs: Buffer#toString.
