Encoding API

{{DefaultAPISidebar("Encoding API")}} {{AvailableInWorkers}} 

The Encoding API enables web developers to work with text that is represented in {{Glossary("character encoding", "character encodings")}}  systems other than the encoding used internally by JavaScript strings. In particular, it enables developers to convert text between JavaScript strings and the {{glossary("UTF-8")}}  encoding that is used for most documents on the web.

It provides two mechanisms:

• Encoding: taking a JavaScript string and converting it into an array of bytes representing the {{glossary("UTF-8")}}  encoding of the string.
• Decoding: taking an array of bytes representing a particular character encoding of some text, and converting it into a JavaScript string.

Note that these operations are asymmetrical: encoding only encodes to UTF-8, while decoding can decode UTF-8 but also many legacy encoding systems.

The API provides synchronous interfaces for encoding and decoding, and also stream-based encoders and decoders, which could be used to, for example, decode text as it arrives over a network connection.

Interfaces

• {{DOMxRef("TextDecoder")}} 
  • : A decoder to convert a byte array containing a particular encoding into a JavaScript string.
• {{DOMxRef("TextDecoderStream")}} 
  • : A decoder to convert a byte stream containing a particular encoding into a stream of JavaScript strings.
• {{DOMxRef("TextEncoder")}} 
  • : An encoder to convert a JavaScript string into an array of bytes representing the UTF-8 encoding of the string.
• {{DOMxRef("TextEncoderStream")}} 
  • : An encoder to convert a stream of JavaScript strings into an stream of bytes representing the UTF-8 encoding of the strings.

Specifications

{{Specifications}} 

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}} 

See also

• Encoding API Encodings - Encodings that must be supported for decoding text.