Sia
Api

Boolean Methods

Methods for serializing and deserializing boolean values as single bytes.

Sia encodes boolean values as a single byte, where 1 represents true and 0 represents false. Available as both a class method and standalone functions:

// Class API
import { Sia } from "@timeleap/sia";

// Functional API (tree-shakeable)
import { Buffer, addBool, readBool } from "@timeleap/sia";

addBool(b) / readBool()

Writes or reads a boolean value.

addBool(b: boolean): Sia
readBool(): boolean
ParameterTypeDescription
bbooleanThe boolean value to serialize

Returns (add): this (for chaining)

Returns (read): boolean — true if the byte is 1, false otherwise.

Encoding Detail

ValueEncoded Byte
true0x01
false0x00

On read, readBool() compares the byte strictly against 1. Any byte value other than 1 (including values like 2 or 255) will return false.

Booleans always occupy exactly 1 byte. If you need to pack multiple boolean flags efficiently, consider using a bitmask stored as a UInt8 or UInt16 instead.

Example

import { Sia } from "@timeleap/sia";

interface FeatureFlags {
  darkMode: boolean;
  notifications: boolean;
  betaAccess: boolean;
}

// Serialize
const sia = new Sia();
sia
  .addBool(true) // darkMode
  .addBool(false) // notifications
  .addBool(true); // betaAccess

const bytes = sia.toUint8Array();
console.log(bytes); // Uint8Array [1, 0, 1]

// Deserialize
const reader = new Sia(bytes);
const flags: FeatureFlags = {
  darkMode: reader.readBool(), // true
  notifications: reader.readBool(), // false
  betaAccess: reader.readBool(), // true
};

console.log(flags);
// { darkMode: true, notifications: false, betaAccess: true }

Bitmask Alternative

When serializing many boolean flags, packing them into a bitmask saves space:

import { Sia } from "@timeleap/sia";

// Pack 8 booleans into 1 byte instead of 8 bytes
const flags = {
  darkMode: true,
  notifications: false,
  betaAccess: true,
  analytics: false,
  autoSave: true,
  sounds: false,
  tooltips: true,
  animations: true,
};

const bitmask =
  (Number(flags.darkMode) << 0) |
  (Number(flags.notifications) << 1) |
  (Number(flags.betaAccess) << 2) |
  (Number(flags.analytics) << 3) |
  (Number(flags.autoSave) << 4) |
  (Number(flags.sounds) << 5) |
  (Number(flags.tooltips) << 6) |
  (Number(flags.animations) << 7);

const sia = new Sia();
sia.addUInt8(bitmask); // 1 byte for 8 flags

sia.seek(0);
const read = sia.readUInt8();

console.log(Boolean(read & (1 << 0))); // darkMode: true
console.log(Boolean(read & (1 << 2))); // betaAccess: true
console.log(Boolean(read & (1 << 5))); // sounds: false

Array Methods

Methods for serializing and deserializing typed arrays of arbitrary objects using custom serializer and deserializer functions.

BigInt Methods

Methods for serializing and deserializing arbitrary-precision integers using JavaScript's native BigInt type.