Placement and name of "from{Base64,Hex}Into"

[anba]

Uint8Array.fromBase64Into and Uint8Array.fromHexInto don't match the normal naming and placement of methods:

• Array.from, %TypedArray%.from, and the new Uint8Array.fromBase64 and Uint8Array.fromHex create new objects, indicated by the "from" prefix. from{Base64,Hex}Into don't create a new object, but instead modify existing objects. [1]
• from{Base64,Hex}Into modify existing objects, but aren't placed on Uint8Array.prototype, but are instead methods placed on the constructor Uint8Array. [2]

I don't have concrete suggestions how to change this, but at least I wanted to open an issue, so in case the current names and placements will stay, it's documented that this was an intentional design choice.

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[1] Here we could argue that the additional suffix "Into" indicates that the method doesn't create a new object.
[2] Here I'd guess the obvious explanation is that this improves discoverability when the names are similar to Uint8Array.from{Base64,Hex}.

[bakkot]

This was indeed an intentional design choice. The fromXInto methods are close cousins of the fromX methods, despite having a different return type.

I guess be OK with moving these to .prototype.setBase64 or something, but I'm a little happier with the current placement. I'll leave this open for now though.

[ljharb]

It does make sense to me for mutating methods to be on the prototype, even if the names are similar.