Diffs for buffers

[vkurchatkin]

Diffs for buffers seem to be broken:

require('should')

describe('comparing buffers', function () {
  it('should produce correct diff', function () {
    Buffer([0x01]).should.eql(Buffer([0x02]))
  })
})

This code produces the following:

  + expected - actual

       {
      +  "0": 2,
      -  "0": 1,
         "length": 1,
      +  "offset": 5752,
      -  "offset": 5744,
         "parent": {
           "0": 47,
           "1": 42,
           "2": 33,

It's almost ok, except I can see offset and parent, but all I really care is data.
But this example shows the worst scenario:

require('should')

describe('comparing buffers', function () {
  it('should produce correct diff', function () {
    Buffer([0x01]).should.eql(Buffer(0))
  })
})

Not only this diff is veeery long (it shows the whole parent, which is the pool, I assume), but also it takes significant time to be generated.

So, the question is, shouldn't diffs for Buffers be treated specially, to make them really useful?

[boneskull]

Some people might want to see all that stuff? Can't you compare the data directly instead of the entire Buffer object?

[vkurchatkin]

buffers are compared by data, not but reference, and should be diffed the same way, like strings. It's unlikely that someone is interested in offset and parent, because they are just implementation detail. And the real problem, once again, is that diff for buffers with different parents is useless and blocks process for significant amount of time.

[boneskull]

I think we'd accept a PR for better Buffer diffs

[dasilvacontin]

@a8m, any news?

[a8m]

waiting for @boneskull's attention