ArrayBuffer() constructor

The ArrayBuffer() constructor is used to create ArrayBuffer objects.

Syntax

new ArrayBuffer(length)

Parameters

length: The size, in bytes, of the array buffer to create.

Return value

A new ArrayBuffer object of the specified size. Its contents are initialized to 0.

Exceptions

A RangeError is thrown if the length is larger than Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER (>= 2 ** 53) or negative.

Compatibility notes

Starting with ECMAScript 2015, ArrayBuffer constructors require to be constructed with a new operator. Calling an ArrayBuffer constructor as a function without new, will throw a TypeError from now on.

var dv = ArrayBuffer(10);
// TypeError: calling a builtin ArrayBuffer constructor
// without new is forbidden

var dv = new ArrayBuffer(10);

Examples

Creating an ArrayBuffer

In this example, we create a 8-byte buffer with a Int32Array view referring to the buffer:

var buffer = new ArrayBuffer(8);
var view   = new Int32Array(buffer);

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Language Specification (ECMAScript) # sec-arraybuffer-constructor

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`ArrayBuffer`	7	12	4	10	11.6	5.1	4	18	4	12	4.2	1.0
`new_required`	7	14	44	No	15	5.1	≤37	18	44	14	5	1.0