web-streams-polyfill
v4.0.0
Published
Web Streams, based on the WHATWG spec reference implementation
Downloads
51,218,342
Readme
web-streams-polyfill
Web Streams, based on the WHATWG spec reference implementation.
Links
Usage
This library comes in multiple variants:
web-streams-polyfill
: a ponyfill that provides the stream implementations without replacing any globals, targeting ES2015+ environments. Recommended for use in Node 6+ applications, or in web libraries supporting modern browsers.web-streams-polyfill/es5
: a ponyfill targeting ES5+ environments. Recommended for use in legacy Node applications, or in web libraries supporting older browsers.web-streams-polyfill/polyfill
: a polyfill that replaces the native stream implementations, targeting ES2015+ environments. Recommended for use in web apps supporting modern browsers through a<script>
tag.web-streams-polyfill/polyfill/es5
: a polyfill targeting ES5+ environments. Recommended for use in web apps supporting older browsers through a<script>
tag.
Each variant also includes TypeScript type definitions, compatible with the DOM type definitions for streams included in TypeScript. These type definitions require TypeScript version 4.7 or higher.
In version 4, the list of variants was reworked to have more modern defaults and to reduce the download size of the package. See the migration guide for more information.
Usage as a polyfill:
<!-- option 1: hosted by unpkg CDN -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/web-streams-polyfill/dist/polyfill.js"></script>
<!-- option 2: self hosted -->
<script src="/path/to/web-streams-polyfill/dist/polyfill.js"></script>
<script>
var readable = new ReadableStream();
</script>
Usage as a Node module:
var streams = require("web-streams-polyfill");
var readable = new streams.ReadableStream();
Usage as a ponyfill from within a ES2015 module:
import { ReadableStream } from "web-streams-polyfill";
const readable = new ReadableStream();
Usage as a polyfill from within an ES2015 module:
import "web-streams-polyfill/polyfill";
const readable = new ReadableStream();
Compatibility
The polyfill
and ponyfill
variants work in any ES2015-compatible environment.
The polyfill/es5
and ponyfill/es5
variants work in any ES5-compatible environment that has a global Promise
.
If you need to support older browsers or Node versions that do not have a native Promise
implementation
(check the support table), you must first include a Promise
polyfill
(e.g. promise-polyfill).
Async iterable support for ReadableStream
is available in all variants, but requires an ES2018-compatible environment or a polyfill for Symbol.asyncIterator
.
WritableStreamDefaultController.signal
is available in all variants, but requires a global AbortController
constructor. If necessary, consider using a polyfill such as abortcontroller-polyfill.
Reading with a BYOB reader is available in all variants, but requires ArrayBuffer.prototype.transfer()
or structuredClone()
to exist in order to correctly transfer the given view's buffer. If not available, then the buffer won't be transferred during the read.
Tooling compatibility
This package uses subpath exports for its variants. As such, you need Node 12 or higher in order to import
or require()
such a variant.
When using TypeScript, make sure your moduleResolution
is set to "node16"
, "nodenext"
or "bundler"
.
Compliance
The polyfill implements version 4dc123a
(13 Nov 2023) of the streams specification.
The polyfill is tested against the same web platform tests that are used by browsers to test their native implementations. The polyfill aims to pass all tests, although it allows some exceptions for practical reasons:
- The default (ES2015) variant passes all of the tests, except for the test for the prototype of
ReadableStream
's async iterator. Retrieving the correct%AsyncIteratorPrototype%
requires using an async generator (async function* () {}
), which is invalid syntax before ES2018. Instead, the polyfill creates its own version which is functionally equivalent to the real prototype. - The ES5 variant passes the same tests as the ES2015 variant, except for various tests about specific characteristics of the constructors, properties and methods.
These test failures do not affect the run-time behavior of the polyfill.
For example:
- The
name
property of down-leveled constructors is incorrect. - The
length
property of down-leveled constructors and methods with optional arguments is incorrect. - Not all properties and methods are correctly marked as non-enumerable.
- Down-leveled class methods are not correctly marked as non-constructable.
- The
Contributors
Thanks to these people for their work on the original polyfill: