--- /dev/null
+# Decode streams into strings The Right Way(tm)
+
+```javascript
+var fs = require('fs')
+var zlib = require('zlib')
+var strs = require('stringstream')
+
+var utf8Stream = fs.createReadStream('massiveLogFile.gz')
+ .pipe(zlib.createGunzip())
+ .pipe(strs('utf8'))
+```
+
+No need to deal with `setEncoding()` weirdness, just compose streams
+like they were supposed to be!
+
+Handles input and output encoding:
+
+```javascript
+// Stream from utf8 to hex to base64... Why not, ay.
+var hex64Stream = fs.createReadStream('myFile')
+ .pipe(strs('utf8', 'hex'))
+ .pipe(strs('hex', 'base64'))
+```
+
+Also deals with `base64` output correctly by aligning each emitted data
+chunk so that there are no dangling `=` characters:
+
+```javascript
+var stream = fs.createReadStream('myFile').pipe(strs('base64'))
+
+var base64Str = ''
+
+stream.on('data', function(data) { base64Str += data })
+stream.on('end', function() {
+ console.log('My base64 encoded file is: ' + base64Str) // Wouldn't work with setEncoding()
+ console.log('Original file is: ' + new Buffer(base64Str, 'base64'))
+})
+```