diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala
index 94997a49de..981d407472 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala
@@ -9,12 +9,21 @@ import org.scalacheck.Arbitrary._
 import org.scalacheck.Prop._
 import org.scalacheck.Gen._
 
+import scala.collection.mutable.Builder
+
+import java.nio.{ ByteBuffer, ShortBuffer, IntBuffer, FloatBuffer, DoubleBuffer }
+import java.nio.ByteOrder, ByteOrder.{ BIG_ENDIAN, LITTLE_ENDIAN }
+import java.lang.Float.floatToRawIntBits
+import java.lang.Double.doubleToRawLongBits
+
 class ByteStringSpec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers with Checkers {
 
   def genSimpleByteString(min: Int, max: Int) = for {
     n ← choose(min, max)
     b ← Gen.containerOfN[Array, Byte](n, arbitrary[Byte])
-  } yield ByteString(b)
+    from ← choose(0, b.length)
+    until ← choose(from, b.length)
+  } yield ByteString(b).slice(from, until)
 
   implicit val arbitraryByteString: Arbitrary[ByteString] = Arbitrary {
     Gen.sized { s ⇒
@@ -25,14 +34,483 @@ class ByteStringSpec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers with Checkers {
     }
   }
 
+  type ByteStringSlice = (ByteString, Int, Int)
+
+  implicit val arbitraryByteStringSlice: Arbitrary[ByteStringSlice] = Arbitrary {
+    for {
+      xs ← arbitraryByteString.arbitrary
+      from ← choose(0, xs.length)
+      until ← choose(from, xs.length)
+    } yield (xs, from, until)
+  }
+
+  type ArraySlice[A] = (Array[A], Int, Int)
+
+  def arbSlice[A](arbArray: Arbitrary[Array[A]]): Arbitrary[ArraySlice[A]] = Arbitrary {
+    for {
+      xs ← arbArray.arbitrary
+      from ← choose(0, xs.length)
+      until ← choose(from, xs.length)
+    } yield (xs, from, until)
+  }
+
+  val arbitraryByteArray: Arbitrary[Array[Byte]] = Arbitrary { Gen.sized { n ⇒ Gen.containerOfN[Array, Byte](n, arbitrary[Byte]) } }
+  implicit val arbitraryByteArraySlice: Arbitrary[ArraySlice[Byte]] = arbSlice(arbitraryByteArray)
+  val arbitraryShortArray: Arbitrary[Array[Short]] = Arbitrary { Gen.sized { n ⇒ Gen.containerOfN[Array, Short](n, arbitrary[Short]) } }
+  implicit val arbitraryShortArraySlice: Arbitrary[ArraySlice[Short]] = arbSlice(arbitraryShortArray)
+  val arbitraryIntArray: Arbitrary[Array[Int]] = Arbitrary { Gen.sized { n ⇒ Gen.containerOfN[Array, Int](n, arbitrary[Int]) } }
+  implicit val arbitraryIntArraySlice: Arbitrary[ArraySlice[Int]] = arbSlice(arbitraryIntArray)
+  val arbitraryLongArray: Arbitrary[Array[Long]] = Arbitrary { Gen.sized { n ⇒ Gen.containerOfN[Array, Long](n, arbitrary[Long]) } }
+  implicit val arbitraryLongArraySlice: Arbitrary[ArraySlice[Long]] = arbSlice(arbitraryLongArray)
+  val arbitraryFloatArray: Arbitrary[Array[Float]] = Arbitrary { Gen.sized { n ⇒ Gen.containerOfN[Array, Float](n, arbitrary[Float]) } }
+  implicit val arbitraryFloatArraySlice: Arbitrary[ArraySlice[Float]] = arbSlice(arbitraryFloatArray)
+  val arbitraryDoubleArray: Arbitrary[Array[Double]] = Arbitrary { Gen.sized { n ⇒ Gen.containerOfN[Array, Double](n, arbitrary[Double]) } }
+  implicit val arbitraryDoubleArraySlice: Arbitrary[ArraySlice[Double]] = arbSlice(arbitraryDoubleArray)
+
+  def likeVector(bs: ByteString)(body: IndexedSeq[Byte] ⇒ Any): Boolean = {
+    val vec = Vector(bs: _*)
+    body(bs) == body(vec)
+  }
+
+  def likeVectors(bsA: ByteString, bsB: ByteString)(body: (IndexedSeq[Byte], IndexedSeq[Byte]) ⇒ Any): Boolean = {
+    val vecA = Vector(bsA: _*)
+    val vecB = Vector(bsB: _*)
+    body(bsA, bsB) == body(vecA, vecB)
+  }
+
+  def likeVecIt(bs: ByteString)(body: BufferedIterator[Byte] ⇒ Any, strict: Boolean = true): Boolean = {
+    val bsIterator = bs.iterator
+    val vecIterator = Vector(bs: _*).iterator.buffered
+    (body(bsIterator) == body(vecIterator)) &&
+      (!strict || (bsIterator.toSeq == vecIterator.toSeq))
+  }
+
+  def likeVecIts(a: ByteString, b: ByteString)(body: (BufferedIterator[Byte], BufferedIterator[Byte]) ⇒ Any, strict: Boolean = true): Boolean = {
+    val (bsAIt, bsBIt) = (a.iterator, b.iterator)
+    val (vecAIt, vecBIt) = (Vector(a: _*).iterator.buffered, Vector(b: _*).iterator.buffered)
+    (body(bsAIt, bsBIt) == body(vecAIt, vecBIt)) &&
+      (!strict || (bsAIt.toSeq, bsBIt.toSeq) == (vecAIt.toSeq, vecBIt.toSeq))
+  }
+
+  def likeVecBld(body: Builder[Byte, _] ⇒ Unit): Boolean = {
+    val bsBuilder = ByteString.newBuilder
+    val vecBuilder = Vector.newBuilder[Byte]
+
+    body(bsBuilder)
+    body(vecBuilder)
+
+    bsBuilder.result == vecBuilder.result
+  }
+
+  def testShortDecoding(slice: ByteStringSlice, byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 2
+    val (bytes, from, until) = slice
+    val (n, a, b) = (bytes.length / elemSize, from / elemSize, until / elemSize)
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Short](n)
+    bytes.asByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asShortBuffer.get(reference, 0, n)
+    val input = bytes.iterator
+    val decoded = Array.ofDim[Short](n)
+    for (i ← 0 to a - 1) decoded(i) = input.getShort(byteOrder)
+    input.getShorts(decoded, a, b - a)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← b to n - 1) decoded(i) = input.getShort(byteOrder)
+    (decoded.toSeq == reference.toSeq) && (input.toSeq == bytes.drop(n * elemSize))
+  }
+
+  def testIntDecoding(slice: ByteStringSlice, byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 4
+    val (bytes, from, until) = slice
+    val (n, a, b) = (bytes.length / elemSize, from / elemSize, until / elemSize)
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Int](n)
+    bytes.asByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asIntBuffer.get(reference, 0, n)
+    val input = bytes.iterator
+    val decoded = Array.ofDim[Int](n)
+    for (i ← 0 to a - 1) decoded(i) = input.getInt(byteOrder)
+    input.getInts(decoded, a, b - a)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← b to n - 1) decoded(i) = input.getInt(byteOrder)
+    (decoded.toSeq == reference.toSeq) && (input.toSeq == bytes.drop(n * elemSize))
+  }
+
+  def testLongDecoding(slice: ByteStringSlice, byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 8
+    val (bytes, from, until) = slice
+    val (n, a, b) = (bytes.length / elemSize, from / elemSize, until / elemSize)
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Long](n)
+    bytes.asByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asLongBuffer.get(reference, 0, n)
+    val input = bytes.iterator
+    val decoded = Array.ofDim[Long](n)
+    for (i ← 0 to a - 1) decoded(i) = input.getLong(byteOrder)
+    input.getLongs(decoded, a, b - a)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← b to n - 1) decoded(i) = input.getLong(byteOrder)
+    (decoded.toSeq == reference.toSeq) && (input.toSeq == bytes.drop(n * elemSize))
+  }
+
+  def testFloatDecoding(slice: ByteStringSlice, byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 4
+    val (bytes, from, until) = slice
+    val (n, a, b) = (bytes.length / elemSize, from / elemSize, until / elemSize)
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Float](n)
+    bytes.asByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asFloatBuffer.get(reference, 0, n)
+    val input = bytes.iterator
+    val decoded = Array.ofDim[Float](n)
+    for (i ← 0 to a - 1) decoded(i) = input.getFloat(byteOrder)
+    input.getFloats(decoded, a, b - a)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← b to n - 1) decoded(i) = input.getFloat(byteOrder)
+    ((decoded.toSeq map floatToRawIntBits) == (reference.toSeq map floatToRawIntBits)) &&
+      (input.toSeq == bytes.drop(n * elemSize))
+  }
+
+  def testDoubleDecoding(slice: ByteStringSlice, byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 8
+    val (bytes, from, until) = slice
+    val (n, a, b) = (bytes.length / elemSize, from / elemSize, until / elemSize)
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Double](n)
+    bytes.asByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asDoubleBuffer.get(reference, 0, n)
+    val input = bytes.iterator
+    val decoded = Array.ofDim[Double](n)
+    for (i ← 0 to a - 1) decoded(i) = input.getDouble(byteOrder)
+    input.getDoubles(decoded, a, b - a)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← b to n - 1) decoded(i) = input.getDouble(byteOrder)
+    ((decoded.toSeq map doubleToRawLongBits) == (reference.toSeq map doubleToRawLongBits)) &&
+      (input.toSeq == bytes.drop(n * elemSize))
+  }
+
+  def testShortEncoding(slice: ArraySlice[Short], byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 2
+    val (data, from, until) = slice
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Byte](data.length * elemSize)
+    ByteBuffer.wrap(reference).order(byteOrder).asShortBuffer.put(data)
+    val builder = ByteString.newBuilder
+    for (i ← 0 to from - 1) builder.putShort(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    builder.putShorts(data, from, until - from)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← until to data.length - 1) builder.putShort(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    reference.toSeq == builder.result
+  }
+
+  def testIntEncoding(slice: ArraySlice[Int], byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 4
+    val (data, from, until) = slice
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Byte](data.length * elemSize)
+    ByteBuffer.wrap(reference).order(byteOrder).asIntBuffer.put(data)
+    val builder = ByteString.newBuilder
+    for (i ← 0 to from - 1) builder.putInt(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    builder.putInts(data, from, until - from)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← until to data.length - 1) builder.putInt(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    reference.toSeq == builder.result
+  }
+
+  def testLongEncoding(slice: ArraySlice[Long], byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 8
+    val (data, from, until) = slice
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Byte](data.length * elemSize)
+    ByteBuffer.wrap(reference).order(byteOrder).asLongBuffer.put(data)
+    val builder = ByteString.newBuilder
+    for (i ← 0 to from - 1) builder.putLong(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    builder.putLongs(data, from, until - from)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← until to data.length - 1) builder.putLong(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    reference.toSeq == builder.result
+  }
+
+  def testFloatEncoding(slice: ArraySlice[Float], byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 4
+    val (data, from, until) = slice
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Byte](data.length * elemSize)
+    ByteBuffer.wrap(reference).order(byteOrder).asFloatBuffer.put(data)
+    val builder = ByteString.newBuilder
+    for (i ← 0 to from - 1) builder.putFloat(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    builder.putFloats(data, from, until - from)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← until to data.length - 1) builder.putFloat(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    reference.toSeq == builder.result
+  }
+
+  def testDoubleEncoding(slice: ArraySlice[Double], byteOrder: ByteOrder): Boolean = {
+    val elemSize = 8
+    val (data, from, until) = slice
+    val reference = Array.ofDim[Byte](data.length * elemSize)
+    ByteBuffer.wrap(reference).order(byteOrder).asDoubleBuffer.put(data)
+    val builder = ByteString.newBuilder
+    for (i ← 0 to from - 1) builder.putDouble(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    builder.putDoubles(data, from, until - from)(byteOrder)
+    for (i ← until to data.length - 1) builder.putDouble(data(i))(byteOrder)
+    reference.toSeq == builder.result
+  }
+
   "A ByteString" must {
     "have correct size" when {
       "concatenating" in { check((a: ByteString, b: ByteString) ⇒ (a ++ b).size == a.size + b.size) }
       "dropping" in { check((a: ByteString, b: ByteString) ⇒ (a ++ b).drop(b.size).size == a.size) }
     }
+
     "be sequential" when {
       "taking" in { check((a: ByteString, b: ByteString) ⇒ (a ++ b).take(a.size) == a) }
       "dropping" in { check((a: ByteString, b: ByteString) ⇒ (a ++ b).drop(a.size) == b) }
     }
+
+    "be equal to the original" when {
+      "compacting" in { check { xs: ByteString ⇒ val ys = xs.compact; (xs == ys) && ys.isCompact } }
+      "recombining" in {
+        check { (xs: ByteString, from: Int, until: Int) ⇒
+          val (tmp, c) = xs.splitAt(until)
+          val (a, b) = tmp.splitAt(from)
+          (a ++ b ++ c) == xs
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    "behave as expected" when {
+      "created from and decoding to String" in { check { s: String ⇒ ByteString(s, "UTF-8").decodeString("UTF-8") == s } }
+
+      "compacting" in {
+        check { a: ByteString ⇒
+          val wasCompact = a.isCompact
+          val b = a.compact
+          ((!wasCompact) || (b eq a)) &&
+            (b == a) &&
+            b.isCompact &&
+            (b.compact eq b)
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    "behave like a Vector" when {
+      "concatenating" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: ByteString) ⇒ likeVectors(a, b) { (a, b) ⇒ (a ++ b) } } }
+
+      "calling apply" in {
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          slice match {
+            case (xs, i1, i2) ⇒ likeVector(xs) { seq ⇒
+              (if ((i1 >= 0) && (i1 < seq.length)) seq(i1) else 0,
+                if ((i2 >= 0) && (i2 < seq.length)) seq(i2) else 0)
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      "calling head" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.head } } }
+      "calling tail" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.tail } } }
+      "calling last" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.last } } }
+      "calling init" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.init } } }
+      "calling length" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVector(a) { _.length } } }
+
+      "calling span" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVector(a)({ _.span(_ != b) match { case (a, b) ⇒ (a, b) } }) } }
+
+      "calling takeWhile" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVector(a)({ _.takeWhile(_ != b) }) } }
+      "calling dropWhile" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVector(a) { _.dropWhile(_ != b) } } }
+      "calling indexWhere" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVector(a) { _.indexWhere(_ == b) } } }
+      "calling indexOf" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVector(a) { _.indexOf(b) } } }
+      "calling foreach" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVector(a) { it ⇒ var acc = 0; it foreach { acc += _ }; acc } } }
+      "calling foldLeft" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVector(a) { _.foldLeft(0) { _ + _ } } } }
+      "calling toArray" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVector(a) { _.toArray.toSeq } } }
+
+      "calling slice" in {
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          slice match {
+            case (xs, from, until) ⇒ likeVector(xs)({
+              _.slice(from, until)
+            })
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      "calling take and drop" in {
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          slice match {
+            case (xs, from, until) ⇒ likeVector(xs)({
+              _.drop(from).take(until - from)
+            })
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      "calling copyToArray" in {
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          slice match {
+            case (xs, from, until) ⇒ likeVector(xs)({ it ⇒
+              val array = Array.ofDim[Byte](xs.length)
+              it.slice(from, until).copyToArray(array, from, until)
+              array.toSeq
+            })
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  "A ByteStringIterator" must {
+    "behave like a buffered Vector Iterator" when {
+      "concatenating" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: ByteString) ⇒ likeVecIts(a, b) { (a, b) ⇒ (a ++ b).toSeq } } }
+
+      "calling head" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVecIt(a) { _.head } } }
+      "calling next" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVecIt(a) { _.next() } } }
+      "calling hasNext" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.hasNext } } }
+      "calling length" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.length } } }
+      "calling duplicate" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVecIt(a)({ _.duplicate match { case (a, b) ⇒ (a.toSeq, b.toSeq) } }, strict = false) } }
+
+      // Have to used toList instead of toSeq here, iterator.span (new in
+      // Scala-2.9) seems to be broken in combination with toSeq for the
+      // scala.collection default Iterator (see Scala issue SI-5838).
+      "calling span" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVecIt(a)({ _.span(_ != b) match { case (a, b) ⇒ (a.toList, b.toList) } }, strict = false) } }
+
+      "calling takeWhile" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVecIt(a)({ _.takeWhile(_ != b).toSeq }, strict = false) } }
+      "calling dropWhile" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.dropWhile(_ != b).toSeq } } }
+      "calling indexWhere" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.indexWhere(_ == b) } } }
+      "calling indexOf" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.indexOf(b) } } }
+      "calling toSeq" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.toSeq } } }
+      "calling foreach" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { it ⇒ var acc = 0; it foreach { acc += _ }; acc } } }
+      "calling foldLeft" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.foldLeft(0) { _ + _ } } } }
+      "calling toArray" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVecIt(a) { _.toArray.toSeq } } }
+
+      "calling slice" in {
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          slice match {
+            case (xs, from, until) ⇒ likeVecIt(xs)({
+              _.slice(from, until).toSeq
+            }, strict = false)
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      "calling take and drop" in {
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          slice match {
+            case (xs, from, until) ⇒ likeVecIt(xs)({
+              _.drop(from).take(until - from).toSeq
+            }, strict = false)
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      "calling copyToArray" in {
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          slice match {
+            case (xs, from, until) ⇒ likeVecIt(xs)({ it ⇒
+              val array = Array.ofDim[Byte](xs.length)
+              it.slice(from, until).copyToArray(array, from, until)
+              array.toSeq
+            }, strict = false)
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    "function as expected" when {
+      "getting Bytes, using getByte and getBytes" in {
+        // mixing getByte and getBytes here for more rigorous testing
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          val (bytes, from, until) = slice
+          val input = bytes.iterator
+          val output = Array.ofDim[Byte](bytes.length)
+          for (i ← 0 to from - 1) output(i) = input.getByte
+          input.getBytes(output, from, until - from)
+          for (i ← until to bytes.length - 1) output(i) = input.getByte
+          (output.toSeq == bytes) && (input.isEmpty)
+        }
+      }
+
+      "getting Bytes, using the InputStream wrapper" in {
+        // combining skip and both read methods here for more rigorous testing
+        check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒
+          val (bytes, from, until) = slice
+          val a = (0 max from) min bytes.length
+          val b = (a max until) min bytes.length
+          val input = bytes.iterator
+          val output = Array.ofDim[Byte](bytes.length)
+
+          input.asInputStream.skip(a)
+
+          val toRead = b - a
+          var (nRead, eof) = (0, false)
+          while ((nRead < toRead) && !eof) {
+            val n = input.asInputStream.read(output, a + nRead, toRead - nRead)
+            if (n == -1) eof = true
+            else nRead += n
+          }
+          if (eof) throw new RuntimeException("Unexpected EOF")
+
+          for (i ← b to bytes.length - 1) output(i) = input.asInputStream.read().toByte
+
+          (output.toSeq.drop(a) == bytes.drop(a)) &&
+            (input.asInputStream.read() == -1) &&
+            ((output.length < 1) || (input.asInputStream.read(output, 0, 1) == -1))
+        }
+      }
+
+      "calling copyToBuffer" in {
+        check { bytes: ByteString ⇒
+          import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+          val buffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(bytes.size)
+          bytes.copyToBuffer(buffer)
+          buffer.flip()
+          val array = Array.ofDim[Byte](bytes.size)
+          buffer.get(array)
+          bytes == array.toSeq
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    "decode data correctly" when {
+      "decoding Short in big-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testShortDecoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Short in little-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testShortDecoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Int in big-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testIntDecoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Int in little-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testIntDecoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Long in big-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testLongDecoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Long in little-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testLongDecoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Float in big-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testFloatDecoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Float in little-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testFloatDecoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Double in big-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testDoubleDecoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "decoding Double in little-endian" in { check { slice: ByteStringSlice ⇒ testDoubleDecoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+    }
+  }
+
+  "A ByteStringBuilder" must {
+    "function like a VectorBuilder" when {
+      "adding various contents using ++= and +=" in {
+        check { (array1: Array[Byte], array2: Array[Byte], bs1: ByteString, bs2: ByteString, bs3: ByteString) ⇒
+          likeVecBld { builder ⇒
+            builder ++= array1
+            bs1 foreach { b ⇒ builder += b }
+            builder ++= bs2
+            bs3 foreach { b ⇒ builder += b }
+            builder ++= Vector(array2: _*)
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    "function as expected" when {
+      "putting Bytes, using putByte and putBytes" in {
+        // mixing putByte and putBytes here for more rigorous testing
+        check { slice: ArraySlice[Byte] ⇒
+          val (data, from, until) = slice
+          val builder = ByteString.newBuilder
+          for (i ← 0 to from - 1) builder.putByte(data(i))
+          builder.putBytes(data, from, until - from)
+          for (i ← until to data.length - 1) builder.putByte(data(i))
+          data.toSeq == builder.result
+        }
+      }
+
+      "putting Bytes, using the OutputStream wrapper" in {
+        // mixing the write methods here for more rigorous testing
+        check { slice: ArraySlice[Byte] ⇒
+          val (data, from, until) = slice
+          val builder = ByteString.newBuilder
+          for (i ← 0 to from - 1) builder.asOutputStream.write(data(i).toInt)
+          builder.asOutputStream.write(data, from, until - from)
+          for (i ← until to data.length - 1) builder.asOutputStream.write(data(i).toInt)
+          data.toSeq == builder.result
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    "encode data correctly" when {
+      "encoding Short in big-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Short] ⇒ testShortEncoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Short in little-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Short] ⇒ testShortEncoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Int in big-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Int] ⇒ testIntEncoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Int in little-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Int] ⇒ testIntEncoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Long in big-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Long] ⇒ testLongEncoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Long in little-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Long] ⇒ testLongEncoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Float in big-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Float] ⇒ testFloatEncoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Float in little-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Float] ⇒ testFloatEncoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Double in big-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Double] ⇒ testDoubleEncoding(slice, BIG_ENDIAN) } }
+      "encoding Double in little-endian" in { check { slice: ArraySlice[Double] ⇒ testDoubleEncoding(slice, LITTLE_ENDIAN) } }
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteIterator.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteIterator.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc5e4a3d5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteIterator.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,610 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright (C) 2009-2012 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+
+package akka.util
+
+import java.nio.{ ByteBuffer, ByteOrder }
+
+import scala.collection.{ LinearSeq, IndexedSeqOptimized }
+import scala.collection.mutable.{ Builder, WrappedArray }
+import scala.collection.immutable.{ IndexedSeq, VectorBuilder }
+import scala.collection.generic.CanBuildFrom
+import scala.collection.mutable.{ ListBuffer }
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+
+object ByteIterator {
+  object ByteArrayIterator {
+    private val emptyArray: Array[Byte] = Array.ofDim[Byte](0)
+
+    protected[akka] def apply(array: Array[Byte]): ByteArrayIterator =
+      new ByteArrayIterator(array, 0, array.length)
+
+    protected[akka] def apply(array: Array[Byte], from: Int, until: Int): ByteArrayIterator =
+      new ByteArrayIterator(array, from, until)
+
+    val empty: ByteArrayIterator = apply(emptyArray)
+  }
+
+  class ByteArrayIterator private (private var array: Array[Byte], private var from: Int, private var until: Int) extends ByteIterator {
+    iterator ⇒
+
+    @inline final def len: Int = until - from
+
+    @inline final def hasNext: Boolean = from < until
+
+    @inline final def head: Byte = array(from)
+
+    final def next(): Byte = {
+      if (!hasNext) Iterator.empty.next
+      else { val i = from; from = from + 1; array(i) }
+    }
+
+    def clear(): Unit = { this.array = ByteArrayIterator.emptyArray; from = 0; until = from }
+
+    final override def length: Int = { val l = len; clear(); l }
+
+    final override def ++(that: TraversableOnce[Byte]): ByteIterator = that match {
+      case that: ByteIterator ⇒
+        if (that.isEmpty) this
+        else if (this.isEmpty) that
+        else that match {
+          case that: ByteArrayIterator ⇒
+            if ((this.array eq that.array) && (this.until == that.from)) {
+              this.until = that.until
+              that.clear()
+              this
+            } else {
+              val result = MultiByteArrayIterator(List(this, that))
+              this.clear()
+              result
+            }
+          case that: MultiByteArrayIterator ⇒ this ++: that
+        }
+      case _ ⇒ super.++(that)
+    }
+
+    final override def clone: ByteArrayIterator = new ByteArrayIterator(array, from, until)
+
+    final override def take(n: Int): this.type = {
+      if (n < len) until = { if (n > 0) (from + n) else from }
+      this
+    }
+
+    final override def drop(n: Int): this.type = {
+      if (n > 0) from = { if (n < len) (from + n) else until }
+      this
+    }
+
+    final override def takeWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): this.type = {
+      val prev = from
+      dropWhile(p)
+      until = from; from = prev
+      this
+    }
+
+    final override def dropWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): this.type = {
+      var stop = false
+      while (!stop && hasNext) {
+        if (p(array(from))) { from = from + 1 } else { stop = true }
+      }
+      this
+    }
+
+    final override def copyToArray[B >: Byte](xs: Array[B], start: Int, len: Int): Unit = {
+      val n = 0 max ((xs.length - start) min this.len min len)
+      Array.copy(this.array, from, xs, start, n)
+      this.drop(n)
+    }
+
+    final override def toByteString: ByteString = {
+      val result =
+        if ((from == 0) && (until == array.length)) ByteString.ByteString1C(array)
+        else ByteString.ByteString1(array, from, len)
+      clear()
+      result
+    }
+
+    def getBytes(xs: Array[Byte], offset: Int, n: Int): this.type = {
+      if (n <= this.len) {
+        Array.copy(this.array, this.from, xs, offset, n)
+        this.drop(n)
+      } else Iterator.empty.next
+    }
+
+    private def wrappedByteBuffer: ByteBuffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(array, from, len).asReadOnlyBuffer
+
+    def getShorts(xs: Array[Short], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      { wrappedByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asShortBuffer.get(xs, offset, n); drop(2 * n) }
+
+    def getInts(xs: Array[Int], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      { wrappedByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asIntBuffer.get(xs, offset, n); drop(4 * n) }
+
+    def getLongs(xs: Array[Long], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      { wrappedByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asLongBuffer.get(xs, offset, n); drop(8 * n) }
+
+    def getFloats(xs: Array[Float], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      { wrappedByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asFloatBuffer.get(xs, offset, n); drop(4 * n) }
+
+    def getDoubles(xs: Array[Double], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      { wrappedByteBuffer.order(byteOrder).asDoubleBuffer.get(xs, offset, n); drop(8 * n) }
+
+    def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int = {
+      val copyLength = math.min(buffer.remaining, len)
+      if (copyLength > 0) {
+        buffer.put(array, from, copyLength)
+        drop(copyLength)
+      }
+      copyLength
+    }
+
+    def asInputStream: java.io.InputStream = new java.io.InputStream {
+      override def available: Int = iterator.len
+
+      def read: Int = if (hasNext) (next().toInt & 0xff) else -1
+
+      override def read(b: Array[Byte], off: Int, len: Int): Int = {
+        if ((off < 0) || (len < 0) || (off + len > b.length)) throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException
+        if (len == 0) 0
+        else if (!isEmpty) {
+          val nRead = math.min(available, len)
+          copyToArray(b, off, nRead)
+          nRead
+        } else -1
+      }
+
+      override def skip(n: Long): Long = {
+        val nSkip = math.min(iterator.len, n.toInt)
+        iterator.drop(nSkip)
+        nSkip
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  object MultiByteArrayIterator {
+    protected val clearedList: List[ByteArrayIterator] = List(ByteArrayIterator.empty)
+
+    val empty: MultiByteArrayIterator = new MultiByteArrayIterator(Nil)
+
+    protected[akka] def apply(iterators: LinearSeq[ByteArrayIterator]): MultiByteArrayIterator =
+      new MultiByteArrayIterator(iterators)
+  }
+
+  class MultiByteArrayIterator private (private var iterators: LinearSeq[ByteArrayIterator]) extends ByteIterator {
+    // After normalization:
+    // * iterators.isEmpty == false
+    // * (!iterator.head.isEmpty || iterators.tail.isEmpty) == true
+    private def normalize(): this.type = {
+      @tailrec def norm(xs: LinearSeq[ByteArrayIterator]): LinearSeq[ByteArrayIterator] = {
+        if (xs.isEmpty) MultiByteArrayIterator.clearedList
+        else if (xs.head.isEmpty) norm(xs.tail)
+        else xs
+      }
+      iterators = norm(iterators)
+      this
+    }
+    normalize()
+
+    @inline private def current: ByteArrayIterator = iterators.head
+    @inline private def dropCurrent(): Unit = { iterators = iterators.tail }
+    @inline def clear(): Unit = { iterators = MultiByteArrayIterator.empty.iterators }
+
+    @inline final def hasNext: Boolean = current.hasNext
+
+    @inline final def head: Byte = current.head
+
+    final def next(): Byte = {
+      val result = current.next()
+      normalize()
+      result
+    }
+
+    final override def len: Int = iterators.foldLeft(0) { _ + _.len }
+
+    final override def length: Int = {
+      var result = len
+      clear()
+      result
+    }
+
+    private[akka] def ++:(that: ByteArrayIterator): this.type = {
+      iterators = that +: iterators
+      this
+    }
+
+    final override def ++(that: TraversableOnce[Byte]): ByteIterator = that match {
+      case that: ByteIterator ⇒
+        if (that.isEmpty) this
+        else if (this.isEmpty) that
+        else {
+          that match {
+            case that: ByteArrayIterator ⇒
+              iterators = this.iterators :+ that
+              that.clear()
+              this
+            case that: MultiByteArrayIterator ⇒
+              iterators = this.iterators ++ that.iterators
+              that.clear()
+              this
+          }
+        }
+      case _ ⇒ super.++(that)
+    }
+
+    final override def clone: MultiByteArrayIterator = {
+      val clonedIterators: List[ByteArrayIterator] = iterators.map(_.clone)(collection.breakOut)
+      new MultiByteArrayIterator(clonedIterators)
+    }
+
+    final override def take(n: Int): this.type = {
+      var rest = n
+      val builder = new ListBuffer[ByteArrayIterator]
+      while ((rest > 0) && !iterators.isEmpty) {
+        current.take(rest)
+        if (current.hasNext) {
+          rest -= current.len
+          builder += current
+        }
+        iterators = iterators.tail
+      }
+      iterators = builder.result
+      normalize()
+    }
+
+    @tailrec final override def drop(n: Int): this.type = if ((n > 0) && !isEmpty) {
+      val nCurrent = math.min(n, current.len)
+      current.drop(n)
+      val rest = n - nCurrent
+      assert(current.isEmpty || (rest == 0))
+      normalize()
+      drop(rest)
+    } else this
+
+    final override def takeWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): this.type = {
+      var stop = false
+      var builder = new ListBuffer[ByteArrayIterator]
+      while (!stop && !iterators.isEmpty) {
+        val lastLen = current.len
+        current.takeWhile(p)
+        if (current.hasNext) builder += current
+        if (current.len < lastLen) stop = true
+        dropCurrent()
+      }
+      iterators = builder.result
+      normalize()
+    }
+
+    @tailrec final override def dropWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): this.type = if (!isEmpty) {
+      current.dropWhile(p)
+      val dropMore = current.isEmpty
+      normalize()
+      if (dropMore) dropWhile(p) else this
+    } else this
+
+    final override def copyToArray[B >: Byte](xs: Array[B], start: Int, len: Int): Unit = {
+      var pos = start
+      var rest = len
+      while ((rest > 0) && !iterators.isEmpty) {
+        val n = 0 max ((xs.length - pos) min current.len min rest)
+        current.copyToArray(xs, pos, n)
+        pos += n
+        rest -= n
+        dropCurrent()
+      }
+      normalize()
+    }
+
+    override def foreach[@specialized U](f: Byte ⇒ U): Unit = {
+      iterators foreach { _ foreach f }
+      clear()
+    }
+
+    final override def toByteString: ByteString = {
+      if (iterators.tail isEmpty) iterators.head.toByteString
+      else {
+        val result = iterators.foldLeft(ByteString.empty) { _ ++ _.toByteString }
+        clear()
+        result
+      }
+    }
+
+    @tailrec protected final def getToArray[A](xs: Array[A], offset: Int, n: Int, elemSize: Int)(getSingle: ⇒ A)(getMult: (Array[A], Int, Int) ⇒ Unit): this.type = if (n <= 0) this else {
+      if (isEmpty) Iterator.empty.next
+      val nDone = if (current.len >= elemSize) {
+        val nCurrent = math.min(n, current.len / elemSize)
+        getMult(xs, offset, nCurrent)
+        nCurrent
+      } else {
+        xs(offset) = getSingle
+        1
+      }
+      normalize()
+      getToArray(xs, offset + nDone, n - nDone, elemSize)(getSingle)(getMult)
+    }
+
+    def getBytes(xs: Array[Byte], offset: Int, n: Int): this.type =
+      getToArray(xs, offset, n, 1) { getByte } { current.getBytes(_, _, _) }
+
+    def getShorts(xs: Array[Short], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      getToArray(xs, offset, n, 2) { getShort(byteOrder) } { current.getShorts(_, _, _)(byteOrder) }
+
+    def getInts(xs: Array[Int], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      getToArray(xs, offset, n, 4) { getInt(byteOrder) } { current.getInts(_, _, _)(byteOrder) }
+
+    def getLongs(xs: Array[Long], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      getToArray(xs, offset, n, 8) { getLong(byteOrder) } { current.getLongs(_, _, _)(byteOrder) }
+
+    def getFloats(xs: Array[Float], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      getToArray(xs, offset, n, 8) { getFloat(byteOrder) } { current.getFloats(_, _, _)(byteOrder) }
+
+    def getDoubles(xs: Array[Double], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+      getToArray(xs, offset, n, 8) { getDouble(byteOrder) } { current.getDoubles(_, _, _)(byteOrder) }
+
+    def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int = {
+      val n = iterators.foldLeft(0) { _ + _.copyToBuffer(buffer) }
+      normalize()
+      n
+    }
+
+    def asInputStream: java.io.InputStream = new java.io.InputStream {
+      override def available: Int = current.len
+
+      def read: Int = if (hasNext) (next().toInt & 0xff) else -1
+
+      override def read(b: Array[Byte], off: Int, len: Int): Int = {
+        val nRead = current.asInputStream.read(b, off, len)
+        normalize()
+        nRead
+      }
+
+      override def skip(n: Long): Long = {
+        @tailrec def skipImpl(n: Long, skipped: Long): Long = if (n > 0) {
+          if (!isEmpty) {
+            val m = current.asInputStream.skip(n)
+            normalize()
+            val newN = n - m
+            val newSkipped = skipped + m
+            if (newN > 0) skipImpl(newN, newSkipped)
+            else newSkipped
+          } else 0
+        } else 0
+
+        skipImpl(n, 0)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * An iterator over a ByteString.
+ */
+
+abstract class ByteIterator extends BufferedIterator[Byte] {
+  def len: Int
+
+  def head: Byte
+
+  def next(): Byte
+
+  protected def clear(): Unit
+
+  def ++(that: TraversableOnce[Byte]): ByteIterator = if (that.isEmpty) this else ByteIterator.ByteArrayIterator(that.toArray)
+
+  // *must* be overridden by derived classes. This construction is necessary
+  // to specialize the return type, as the method is already implemented in
+  // the parent class.
+  override def clone: ByteIterator = throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Method clone is not implemented in ByteIterator")
+
+  override def duplicate: (ByteIterator, ByteIterator) = (this, clone)
+
+  // *must* be overridden by derived classes. This construction is necessary
+  // to specialize the return type, as the method is already implemented in
+  // the parent class.
+  override def take(n: Int): this.type = throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Method take is not implemented in ByteIterator")
+
+  // *must* be overridden by derived classes. This construction is necessary
+  // to specialize the return type, as the method is already implemented in
+  // the parent class.
+  override def drop(n: Int): this.type = throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Method drop is not implemented in ByteIterator")
+
+  override def slice(from: Int, until: Int): this.type = {
+    if (from > 0) drop(from).take(until - from)
+    else take(until)
+  }
+
+  // *must* be overridden by derived classes. This construction is necessary
+  // to specialize the return type, as the method is already implemented in
+  // the parent class.
+  override def takeWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): this.type = throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Method takeWhile is not implemented in ByteIterator")
+
+  // *must* be overridden by derived classes. This construction is necessary
+  // to specialize the return type, as the method is already implemented in
+  // the parent class.
+  override def dropWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): this.type = throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Method dropWhile is not implemented in ByteIterator")
+
+  override def span(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): (ByteIterator, ByteIterator) = {
+    val that = clone
+    this.takeWhile(p)
+    that.drop(this.len)
+    (this, that)
+  }
+
+  override def indexWhere(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): Int = {
+    var index = 0
+    var found = false
+    while (!found && hasNext) if (p(next())) { found = true } else { index += 1 }
+    if (found) index else -1
+  }
+
+  def indexOf(elem: Byte): Int = indexWhere { _ == elem }
+
+  override def indexOf[B >: Byte](elem: B): Int = indexWhere { _ == elem }
+
+  def toByteString: ByteString
+
+  override def toSeq: ByteString = toByteString
+
+  override def foreach[@specialized U](f: Byte ⇒ U): Unit =
+    while (hasNext) f(next())
+
+  override def foldLeft[@specialized B](z: B)(op: (B, Byte) ⇒ B): B = {
+    var acc = z
+    foreach { byte ⇒ acc = op(acc, byte) }
+    acc
+  }
+
+  override def toArray[B >: Byte](implicit arg0: ClassManifest[B]): Array[B] = {
+    val target = Array.ofDim[B](len)
+    copyToArray(target)
+    target
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get a single Byte from this iterator. Identical to next().
+   */
+  def getByte: Byte = next()
+
+  /**
+   * Get a single Short from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getShort(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): Short = {
+    if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN)
+      ((next() & 0xff) << 8 | (next() & 0xff) << 0).toShort
+    else if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN)
+      ((next() & 0xff) << 0 | (next() & 0xff) << 8).toShort
+    else throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown byte order " + byteOrder)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get a single Int from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getInt(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): Int = {
+    if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN)
+      ((next() & 0xff) << 24
+        | (next() & 0xff) << 16
+        | (next() & 0xff) << 8
+        | (next() & 0xff) << 0)
+    else if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN)
+      ((next() & 0xff) << 0
+        | (next() & 0xff) << 8
+        | (next() & 0xff) << 16
+        | (next() & 0xff) << 24)
+    else throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown byte order " + byteOrder)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get a single Long from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getLong(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): Long = {
+    if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN)
+      ((next().toLong & 0xff) << 56
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 48
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 40
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 32
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 24
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 16
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 8
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 0)
+    else if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN)
+      ((next().toLong & 0xff) << 0
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 8
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 16
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 24
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 32
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 40
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 48
+        | (next().toLong & 0xff) << 56)
+    else throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown byte order " + byteOrder)
+  }
+
+  def getFloat(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): Float =
+    java.lang.Float.intBitsToFloat(getInt(byteOrder))
+
+  def getDouble(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): Double =
+    java.lang.Double.longBitsToDouble(getLong(byteOrder))
+
+  /**
+   * Get a specific number of Bytes from this iterator. In contrast to
+   * copyToArray, this method will fail if this.len < xs.length.
+   */
+  def getBytes(xs: Array[Byte]): this.type = getBytes(xs, 0, xs.length)
+
+  /**
+   * Get a specific number of Bytes from this iterator. In contrast to
+   * copyToArray, this method will fail if length < n or if (xs.length - offset) < n.
+   */
+  def getBytes(xs: Array[Byte], offset: Int, n: Int): this.type
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Shorts from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getShorts(xs: Array[Short])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    getShorts(xs, 0, xs.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Shorts from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getShorts(xs: Array[Short], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Ints from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getInts(xs: Array[Int])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    getInts(xs, 0, xs.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Ints from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getInts(xs: Array[Int], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Longs from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getLongs(xs: Array[Long])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    getLongs(xs, 0, xs.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Longs from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getLongs(xs: Array[Long], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Floats from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getFloats(xs: Array[Float])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    getFloats(xs, 0, xs.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Floats from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getFloats(xs: Array[Float], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Doubles from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getDoubles(xs: Array[Double])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    getDoubles(xs, 0, xs.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Get a number of Doubles from this iterator.
+   */
+  def getDoubles(xs: Array[Double], offset: Int, n: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type
+
+  /**
+   * Copy as many bytes as possible to a ByteBuffer, starting from it's
+   * current position. This method will not overflow the buffer.
+   *
+   * @param buffer a ByteBuffer to copy bytes to
+   * @return the number of bytes actually copied
+   */
+  def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int
+
+  /**
+   * Directly wraps this ByteIterator in an InputStream without copying.
+   * Read and skip operations on the stream will advance the iterator
+   * accordingly.
+   */
+  def asInputStream: java.io.InputStream
+}
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala
index ac074d5b28..c2a690aa26 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala
@@ -4,14 +4,13 @@
 
 package akka.util
 
-import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.nio.{ ByteBuffer, ByteOrder }
 
 import scala.collection.IndexedSeqOptimized
 import scala.collection.mutable.{ Builder, WrappedArray }
 import scala.collection.immutable.{ IndexedSeq, VectorBuilder }
 import scala.collection.generic.CanBuildFrom
 
-//FIXME MORE DOCS
 object ByteString {
 
   /**
@@ -67,7 +66,7 @@ object ByteString {
   }
 
   /**
-   * A compact (unsliced) and unfragmented ByteString, implementaton of ByteString1C.
+   * A compact (unsliced) and unfragmented ByteString, implementation of ByteString1C.
    */
   @SerialVersionUID(3956956327691936932L)
   final class ByteString1C private (private val bytes: Array[Byte]) extends CompactByteString {
@@ -75,32 +74,29 @@ object ByteString {
 
     override def length: Int = bytes.length
 
-    def toArray: Array[Byte] = bytes.clone
+    override def iterator: ByteIterator.ByteArrayIterator = ByteIterator.ByteArrayIterator(bytes, 0, bytes.length)
 
-    def toByteString1: ByteString1 = ByteString1(bytes)
+    private[akka] def toByteString1: ByteString1 = ByteString1(bytes)
 
-    override def clone: ByteString1C = new ByteString1C(toArray)
-
-    def compact: ByteString1C = this
-
-    def asByteBuffer: ByteBuffer = toByteString1.asByteBuffer
+    def asByteBuffer: ByteBuffer =
+      toByteString1.asByteBuffer
 
     def decodeString(charset: String): String = new String(bytes, charset)
 
-    def ++(that: ByteString): ByteString = if (!that.isEmpty) toByteString1 ++ that else this
+    def ++(that: ByteString): ByteString =
+      if (that.isEmpty) this
+      else if (this.isEmpty) that
+      else toByteString1 ++ that
 
     override def slice(from: Int, until: Int): ByteString =
       if ((from != 0) || (until != length)) toByteString1.slice(from, until)
       else this
-
-    override def copyToArray[A >: Byte](xs: Array[A], start: Int, len: Int): Unit =
-      toByteString1.copyToArray(xs, start, len)
-
-    def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int = toByteString1.copyToBuffer(buffer)
   }
 
   private[akka] object ByteString1 {
     def apply(bytes: Array[Byte]): ByteString1 = new ByteString1(bytes)
+    def apply(bytes: Array[Byte], startIndex: Int, length: Int): ByteString1 =
+      new ByteString1(bytes, startIndex, length)
   }
 
   /**
@@ -112,6 +108,9 @@ object ByteString {
 
     def apply(idx: Int): Byte = bytes(checkRangeConvert(idx))
 
+    override def iterator: ByteIterator.ByteArrayIterator =
+      ByteIterator.ByteArrayIterator(bytes, startIndex, startIndex + length)
+
     private def checkRangeConvert(index: Int): Int = {
       if (0 <= index && length > index)
         index + startIndex
@@ -119,15 +118,10 @@ object ByteString {
         throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException(index.toString)
     }
 
-    def toArray: Array[Byte] = {
-      val ar = new Array[Byte](length)
-      Array.copy(bytes, startIndex, ar, 0, length)
-      ar
-    }
+    def isCompact: Boolean = (length == bytes.length)
 
-    override def clone: CompactByteString = ByteString1C(toArray)
-
-    def compact: CompactByteString = if (length == bytes.length) ByteString1C(bytes) else clone
+    def compact: CompactByteString =
+      if (isCompact) ByteString1C(bytes) else ByteString1C(toArray)
 
     def asByteBuffer: ByteBuffer = {
       val buffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes, startIndex, length).asReadOnlyBuffer
@@ -138,26 +132,17 @@ object ByteString {
     def decodeString(charset: String): String =
       new String(if (length == bytes.length) bytes else toArray, charset)
 
-    def ++(that: ByteString): ByteString = that match {
-      case b: ByteString1C ⇒ ByteStrings(this, b.toByteString1)
-      case b: ByteString1  ⇒ ByteStrings(this, b)
-      case bs: ByteStrings ⇒ ByteStrings(this, bs)
-    }
-
-    override def slice(from: Int, until: Int): ByteString = {
-      val newStartIndex = math.max(from, 0) + startIndex
-      val newLength = math.min(until, length) - from
-      if (newLength <= 0) ByteString.empty
-      else new ByteString1(bytes, newStartIndex, newLength)
-    }
-
-    override def copyToArray[A >: Byte](xs: Array[A], start: Int, len: Int): Unit =
-      Array.copy(bytes, startIndex, xs, start, math.min(math.min(length, len), xs.length - start))
-
-    def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int = {
-      val copyLength = math.min(buffer.remaining, length)
-      if (copyLength > 0) buffer.put(bytes, startIndex, copyLength)
-      copyLength
+    def ++(that: ByteString): ByteString = {
+      if (that.isEmpty) this
+      else if (this.isEmpty) that
+      else that match {
+        case b: ByteString1C ⇒ ByteStrings(this, b.toByteString1)
+        case b: ByteString1 ⇒
+          if ((bytes eq b.bytes) && (startIndex + length == b.startIndex))
+            new ByteString1(bytes, startIndex, length + b.length)
+          else ByteStrings(this, b)
+        case bs: ByteStrings ⇒ ByteStrings(this, bs)
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -195,7 +180,6 @@ object ByteString {
     }
 
     // 0: both empty, 1: 2nd empty, 2: 1st empty, 3: neither empty
-    // Using length to check emptiness is prohibited by law
     def compare(b1: ByteString, b2: ByteString): Int =
       if (b1.isEmpty)
         if (b2.isEmpty) 0 else 2
@@ -206,7 +190,8 @@ object ByteString {
   /**
    * A ByteString with 2 or more fragments.
    */
-  final class ByteStrings private (val bytestrings: Vector[ByteString1], val length: Int) extends ByteString {
+  final class ByteStrings private (private[akka] val bytestrings: Vector[ByteString1], val length: Int) extends ByteString {
+    if (bytestrings.isEmpty) throw new IllegalArgumentException("bytestrings must not be empty")
 
     def apply(idx: Int): Byte =
       if (0 <= idx && idx < length) {
@@ -219,71 +204,37 @@ object ByteString {
         bytestrings(pos)(idx - seen)
       } else throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException(idx.toString)
 
-    override def slice(from: Int, until: Int): ByteString = {
-      val start = math.max(from, 0)
-      val end = math.min(until, length)
-      if (end <= start)
-        ByteString.empty
-      else {
-        val iter = bytestrings.iterator
-        var cur = iter.next
-        var pos = 0
-        var seen = 0
-        while (from >= seen + cur.length) {
-          seen += cur.length
-          pos += 1
-          cur = iter.next
-        }
-        val startpos = pos
-        val startidx = start - seen
-        while (until > seen + cur.length) {
-          seen += cur.length
-          pos += 1
-          cur = iter.next
-        }
-        val endpos = pos
-        val endidx = end - seen
-        if (startpos == endpos)
-          cur.slice(startidx, endidx)
-        else {
-          val first = bytestrings(startpos).drop(startidx).asInstanceOf[ByteString1]
-          val last = cur.take(endidx).asInstanceOf[ByteString1]
-          if ((endpos - startpos) == 1)
-            new ByteStrings(Vector(first, last), until - from)
-          else
-            new ByteStrings(first +: bytestrings.slice(startpos + 1, endpos) :+ last, until - from)
-        }
+    override def iterator: ByteIterator.MultiByteArrayIterator =
+      ByteIterator.MultiByteArrayIterator(bytestrings.toStream map { _.iterator })
+
+    def ++(that: ByteString): ByteString = {
+      if (that.isEmpty) this
+      else if (this.isEmpty) that
+      else that match {
+        case b: ByteString1C ⇒ ByteStrings(this, b.toByteString1)
+        case b: ByteString1  ⇒ ByteStrings(this, b)
+        case bs: ByteStrings ⇒ ByteStrings(this, bs)
       }
     }
 
-    def ++(that: ByteString): ByteString = that match {
-      case b: ByteString1C ⇒ ByteStrings(this, b.toByteString1)
-      case b: ByteString1  ⇒ ByteStrings(this, b)
-      case bs: ByteStrings ⇒ ByteStrings(this, bs)
-    }
+    def isCompact: Boolean = if (bytestrings.length == 1) bytestrings.head.isCompact else false
 
     def compact: CompactByteString = {
-      val ar = new Array[Byte](length)
-      var pos = 0
-      bytestrings foreach { b ⇒
-        b.copyToArray(ar, pos, b.length)
-        pos += b.length
+      if (isCompact) bytestrings.head.compact
+      else {
+        val ar = new Array[Byte](length)
+        var pos = 0
+        bytestrings foreach { b ⇒
+          b.copyToArray(ar, pos, b.length)
+          pos += b.length
+        }
+        ByteString1C(ar)
       }
-      ByteString1C(ar)
     }
 
     def asByteBuffer: ByteBuffer = compact.asByteBuffer
 
     def decodeString(charset: String): String = compact.decodeString(charset)
-
-    def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int = {
-      val copyLength = math.min(buffer.remaining, length)
-      val iter = bytestrings.iterator
-      while (iter.hasNext && buffer.hasRemaining) {
-        iter.next.copyToBuffer(buffer)
-      }
-      copyLength
-    }
   }
 
 }
@@ -297,7 +248,44 @@ object ByteString {
  * TODO: Add performance characteristics
  */
 sealed abstract class ByteString extends IndexedSeq[Byte] with IndexedSeqOptimized[Byte, ByteString] {
-  override protected[this] def newBuilder = ByteString.newBuilder
+  def apply(idx: Int): Byte
+
+  override protected[this] def newBuilder: ByteStringBuilder = ByteString.newBuilder
+
+  // *must* be overridden by derived classes. This construction is necessary
+  // to specialize the return type, as the method is already implemented in
+  // a parent trait.
+  override def iterator: ByteIterator = throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Method iterator is not implemented in ByteString")
+
+  override def head: Byte = apply(0)
+  override def tail: ByteString = drop(1)
+  override def last: Byte = apply(length - 1)
+  override def init: ByteString = dropRight(1)
+
+  override def slice(from: Int, until: Int): ByteString =
+    if ((from == 0) && (until == length)) this
+    else iterator.slice(from, until).toByteString
+
+  override def take(n: Int): ByteString = slice(0, n)
+  override def takeRight(n: Int): ByteString = slice(length - n, length)
+  override def drop(n: Int): ByteString = slice(n, length)
+  override def dropRight(n: Int): ByteString = slice(0, length - n)
+
+  override def takeWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): ByteString = iterator.takeWhile(p).toByteString
+  override def dropWhile(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): ByteString = iterator.dropWhile(p).toByteString
+  override def span(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): (ByteString, ByteString) =
+    { val (a, b) = iterator.span(p); (a.toByteString, b.toByteString) }
+
+  override def splitAt(n: Int): (ByteString, ByteString) = (take(n), drop(n))
+
+  override def indexWhere(p: Byte ⇒ Boolean): Int = iterator.indexWhere(p)
+  override def indexOf[B >: Byte](elem: B): Int = iterator.indexOf(elem)
+
+  override def toArray[B >: Byte](implicit arg0: ClassManifest[B]): Array[B] = iterator.toArray
+  override def copyToArray[B >: Byte](xs: Array[B], start: Int, len: Int): Unit =
+    iterator.copyToArray(xs, start, len)
+
+  override def foreach[@specialized U](f: Byte ⇒ U): Unit = iterator foreach f
 
   /**
    * Efficiently concatenate another ByteString.
@@ -311,14 +299,24 @@ sealed abstract class ByteString extends IndexedSeq[Byte] with IndexedSeqOptimiz
    * @param buffer a ByteBuffer to copy bytes to
    * @return the number of bytes actually copied
    */
-  def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int
+  def copyToBuffer(buffer: ByteBuffer): Int = iterator.copyToBuffer(buffer)
 
   /**
-   * Create a new ByteString with all contents compacted into a single
-   * byte array.
+   * Create a new ByteString with all contents compacted into a single,
+   * full byte array.
+   * If isCompact returns true, compact is an O(1) operation, but
+   * might return a different object with an optimized implementation.
    */
   def compact: CompactByteString
 
+  /**
+   * Check whether this ByteString is compact in memory.
+   * If the ByteString is compact, it might, however, not be represented
+   * by an object that takes full advantage of that fact. Use compact to
+   * get such an object.
+   */
+  def isCompact: Boolean
+
   /**
    * Returns a read-only ByteBuffer that directly wraps this ByteString
    * if it is not fragmented.
@@ -329,7 +327,7 @@ sealed abstract class ByteString extends IndexedSeq[Byte] with IndexedSeqOptimiz
    * Creates a new ByteBuffer with a copy of all bytes contained in this
    * ByteString.
    */
-  final def toByteBuffer: ByteBuffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(toArray)
+  def toByteBuffer: ByteBuffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(toArray)
 
   /**
    * Decodes this ByteString as a UTF-8 encoded String.
@@ -420,9 +418,15 @@ object CompactByteString {
 }
 
 /**
- * A compact, unfragmented ByteString.
+ * A compact ByteString.
+ *
+ * The ByteString is guarantied to be contiguous in memory and to use only
+ * as much memory as required for its contents.
  */
-sealed abstract class CompactByteString extends ByteString with Serializable
+sealed abstract class CompactByteString extends ByteString with Serializable {
+  def isCompact: Boolean = true
+  def compact: this.type = this
+}
 
 /**
  * A mutable builder for efficiently creating a [[akka.util.ByteString]].
@@ -430,12 +434,37 @@ sealed abstract class CompactByteString extends ByteString with Serializable
  * The created ByteString is not automatically compacted.
  */
 final class ByteStringBuilder extends Builder[Byte, ByteString] {
+  builder ⇒
+
   import ByteString.{ ByteString1C, ByteString1, ByteStrings }
-  private var _length = 0
-  private val _builder = new VectorBuilder[ByteString1]()
+  private var _length: Int = 0
+  private val _builder: VectorBuilder[ByteString1] = new VectorBuilder[ByteString1]()
   private var _temp: Array[Byte] = _
-  private var _tempLength = 0
-  private var _tempCapacity = 0
+  private var _tempLength: Int = 0
+  private var _tempCapacity: Int = 0
+
+  protected def fillArray(len: Int)(fill: (Array[Byte], Int) ⇒ Unit): this.type = {
+    ensureTempSize(_tempLength + len)
+    fill(_temp, _tempLength)
+    _tempLength += len
+    _length += len
+    this
+  }
+
+  protected def fillByteBuffer(len: Int, byteOrder: ByteOrder)(fill: ByteBuffer ⇒ Unit): this.type = {
+    fillArray(len) {
+      case (array, start) ⇒
+        val buffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(array, start, len)
+        buffer.order(byteOrder)
+        fill(buffer)
+    }
+  }
+
+  def length: Int = _length
+
+  override def sizeHint(len: Int): Unit = {
+    resizeTemp(len - (_length - _tempLength))
+  }
 
   private def clearTemp(): Unit = {
     if (_tempLength > 0) {
@@ -487,15 +516,169 @@ final class ByteStringBuilder extends Builder[Byte, ByteString] {
         clearTemp()
         _builder += ByteString1(xs.array.clone)
         _length += xs.length
-      case _: collection.IndexedSeq[_] ⇒
+      case seq: collection.IndexedSeq[_] ⇒
         ensureTempSize(_tempLength + xs.size)
         xs.copyToArray(_temp, _tempLength)
+        _tempLength += seq.length
+        _length += seq.length
       case _ ⇒
         super.++=(xs)
     }
     this
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Add a single Byte to this builder.
+   */
+  def putByte(x: Byte): this.type = this += x
+
+  /**
+   * Add a single Short to this builder.
+   */
+  def putShort(x: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type = {
+    if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN) {
+      this += (x >>> 8).toByte
+      this += (x >>> 0).toByte
+    } else if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN) {
+      this += (x >>> 0).toByte
+      this += (x >>> 8).toByte
+    } else throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown byte order " + byteOrder)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a single Int to this builder.
+   */
+  def putInt(x: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type = {
+    fillArray(4) {
+      case (target, offset) ⇒
+        if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN) {
+          target(offset + 0) = (x >>> 24).toByte
+          target(offset + 1) = (x >>> 16).toByte
+          target(offset + 2) = (x >>> 8).toByte
+          target(offset + 3) = (x >>> 0).toByte
+        } else if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN) {
+          target(offset + 0) = (x >>> 0).toByte
+          target(offset + 1) = (x >>> 8).toByte
+          target(offset + 2) = (x >>> 16).toByte
+          target(offset + 3) = (x >>> 24).toByte
+        } else throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown byte order " + byteOrder)
+    }
+    this
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a single Long to this builder.
+   */
+  def putLong(x: Long)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type = {
+    fillArray(8) {
+      case (target, offset) ⇒
+        if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN) {
+          target(offset + 0) = (x >>> 56).toByte
+          target(offset + 1) = (x >>> 48).toByte
+          target(offset + 2) = (x >>> 40).toByte
+          target(offset + 3) = (x >>> 32).toByte
+          target(offset + 4) = (x >>> 24).toByte
+          target(offset + 5) = (x >>> 16).toByte
+          target(offset + 6) = (x >>> 8).toByte
+          target(offset + 7) = (x >>> 0).toByte
+        } else if (byteOrder == ByteOrder.LITTLE_ENDIAN) {
+          target(offset + 0) = (x >>> 0).toByte
+          target(offset + 1) = (x >>> 8).toByte
+          target(offset + 2) = (x >>> 16).toByte
+          target(offset + 3) = (x >>> 24).toByte
+          target(offset + 4) = (x >>> 32).toByte
+          target(offset + 5) = (x >>> 40).toByte
+          target(offset + 6) = (x >>> 48).toByte
+          target(offset + 7) = (x >>> 56).toByte
+        } else throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown byte order " + byteOrder)
+    }
+    this
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a single Float to this builder.
+   */
+  def putFloat(x: Float)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    putInt(java.lang.Float.floatToRawIntBits(x))(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a single Double to this builder.
+   */
+  def putDouble(x: Double)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    putLong(java.lang.Double.doubleToRawLongBits(x))(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Bytes from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putBytes(array: Array[Byte]): this.type =
+    putBytes(array, 0, array.length)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Bytes from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putBytes(array: Array[Byte], start: Int, len: Int): this.type =
+    fillArray(len) { case (target, targetOffset) ⇒ Array.copy(array, start, target, targetOffset, len) }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Shorts from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putShorts(array: Array[Short])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    putShorts(array, 0, array.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Shorts from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putShorts(array: Array[Short], start: Int, len: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    fillByteBuffer(len * 2, byteOrder) { _.asShortBuffer.put(array, start, len) }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Ints from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putInts(array: Array[Int])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    putInts(array, 0, array.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Ints from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putInts(array: Array[Int], start: Int, len: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    fillByteBuffer(len * 4, byteOrder) { _.asIntBuffer.put(array, start, len) }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Longs from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putLongs(array: Array[Long])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    putLongs(array, 0, array.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Longs from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putLongs(array: Array[Long], start: Int, len: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    fillByteBuffer(len * 8, byteOrder) { _.asLongBuffer.put(array, start, len) }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Floats from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putFloats(array: Array[Float])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    putFloats(array, 0, array.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Floats from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putFloats(array: Array[Float], start: Int, len: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    fillByteBuffer(len * 4, byteOrder) { _.asFloatBuffer.put(array, start, len) }
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Doubles from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putDoubles(array: Array[Double])(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    putDoubles(array, 0, array.length)(byteOrder)
+
+  /**
+   * Add a number of Doubles from an array to this builder.
+   */
+  def putDoubles(array: Array[Double], start: Int, len: Int)(implicit byteOrder: ByteOrder): this.type =
+    fillByteBuffer(len * 8, byteOrder) { _.asDoubleBuffer.put(array, start, len) }
+
   def clear(): Unit = {
     _builder.clear
     _length = 0
@@ -513,4 +696,13 @@ final class ByteStringBuilder extends Builder[Byte, ByteString] {
         ByteStrings(bytestrings, _length)
     }
 
+  /**
+   * Directly wraps this ByteStringBuilder in an OutputStream. Write
+   * operations on the stream are forwarded to the builder.
+   */
+  def asOutputStream: java.io.OutputStream = new java.io.OutputStream {
+    def write(b: Int): Unit = builder += b.toByte
+
+    override def write(b: Array[Byte], off: Int, len: Int): Unit = { builder.putBytes(b, off, len) }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/akka-docs/scala/code/akka/docs/io/BinaryCoding.scala b/akka-docs/scala/code/akka/docs/io/BinaryCoding.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d9aeb334fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-docs/scala/code/akka/docs/io/BinaryCoding.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+package akka.docs.io
+
+//#imports
+import akka.actor._
+import akka.util.{ ByteString, ByteStringBuilder, ByteIterator }
+//#imports
+
+abstract class BinaryDecoding {
+  //#decoding
+  implicit val byteOrder = java.nio.ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN
+
+  val FrameDecoder = for {
+    frameLenBytes ← IO.take(4)
+    frameLen = frameLenBytes.iterator.getInt
+    frame ← IO.take(frameLen)
+  } yield {
+    val in = frame.iterator
+
+    val n = in.getInt
+    val m = in.getInt
+
+    val a = Array.newBuilder[Short]
+    val b = Array.newBuilder[Long]
+
+    for (i ← 1 to n) {
+      a += in.getShort
+      b += in.getInt
+    }
+
+    val data = Array.ofDim[Double](m)
+    in.getDoubles(data)
+
+    (a.result, b.result, data)
+  }
+
+  //#decoding
+}
+
+abstract class RestToSeq {
+  implicit val byteOrder = java.nio.ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN
+  val bytes: ByteString
+  val in = bytes.iterator
+
+  //#rest-to-seq
+  val n = in.getInt
+  val m = in.getInt
+  // ... in.get...
+  val rest: ByteString = in.toSeq
+  //#rest-to-seq
+}
+
+abstract class BinaryEncoding {
+  //#encoding
+  implicit val byteOrder = java.nio.ByteOrder.BIG_ENDIAN
+
+  val a: Array[Short]
+  val b: Array[Long]
+  val data: Array[Double]
+
+  val frameBuilder = ByteString.newBuilder
+
+  val n = a.length
+  val m = data.length
+
+  frameBuilder.putInt(n)
+  frameBuilder.putInt(m)
+
+  for (i ← 0 to n - 1) {
+    frameBuilder.putShort(a(i))
+    frameBuilder.putLong(b(i))
+  }
+  frameBuilder.putDoubles(data)
+  val frame = frameBuilder.result()
+  //#encoding
+
+  //#sending
+  val socket: IO.SocketHandle
+  socket.write(ByteString.newBuilder.putInt(frame.length).result)
+  socket.write(frame)
+  //#sending
+}
diff --git a/akka-docs/scala/io.rst b/akka-docs/scala/io.rst
index 2c4e1608f3..9063e010f5 100644
--- a/akka-docs/scala/io.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/scala/io.rst
@@ -17,10 +17,62 @@ ByteString
 
 A primary goal of Akka's IO module is to only communicate between actors with immutable objects. When dealing with network IO on the jvm ``Array[Byte]`` and ``ByteBuffer`` are commonly used to represent collections of ``Byte``\s, but they are mutable. Scala's collection library also lacks a suitably efficient immutable collection for ``Byte``\s. Being able to safely and efficiently move ``Byte``\s around is very important for this IO module, so ``ByteString`` was developed.
 
-``ByteString`` is a `Rope-like <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_(computer_science)>`_ data structure that is immutable and efficient. When 2 ``ByteString``\s are concatenated together they are both stored within the resulting ``ByteString`` instead of copying both to a new ``Array``. Operations such as ``drop`` and ``take`` return ``ByteString``\s that still reference the original ``Array``, but just change the offset and length that is visible. Great care has also been taken to make sure that the internal ``Array`` cannot be modified. Whenever a potentially unsafe ``Array`` is used to create a new ``ByteString`` a defensive copy is created.
+``ByteString`` is a `Rope-like <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_(computer_science)>`_ data structure that is immutable and efficient. When 2 ``ByteString``\s are concatenated together they are both stored within the resulting ``ByteString`` instead of copying both to a new ``Array``. Operations such as ``drop`` and ``take`` return ``ByteString``\s that still reference the original ``Array``, but just change the offset and length that is visible. Great care has also been taken to make sure that the internal ``Array`` cannot be modified. Whenever a potentially unsafe ``Array`` is used to create a new ``ByteString`` a defensive copy is created. If you require a ``ByteString`` that only blocks a much memory as necessary for it's content, use the ``compact`` method to get a ``CompactByteString`` instance. If the ``ByteString`` represented only a slice of the original array, this will result in copying all bytes in that slice.
 
 ``ByteString`` inherits all methods from ``IndexedSeq``, and it also has some new ones. For more information, look up the ``akka.util.ByteString`` class and it's companion object in the ScalaDoc.
 
+``ByteString`` also comes with it's own optimized builder and iterator classes ``ByteStringBuilder`` and ``ByteIterator`` which provides special features in addition to the standard builder / iterator methods:
+
+Compatibility with java.io
+..........................
+
+A ``ByteStringBuilder`` can be wrapped in a `java.io.OutputStream` via the ``asOutputStream`` method. Likewise, ``ByteIterator`` can we wrapped in a ``java.io.InputStream`` via ``asInputStream``. Using these, ``akka.io`` applications can integrate legacy code based on ``java.io`` streams.
+
+Encoding and decoding of binary data
+....................................
+
+``ByteStringBuilder`` and ``ByteIterator`` support encoding and decoding of binary data. As an example, consider a stream of binary data frames with the following format:
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+  frameLen: Int
+  n: Int
+  m: Int
+  n times {
+    a: Short
+    b: Long
+  }
+  data: m times Double
+
+In this example, the data is to be stored in arrays of ``a``, ``b`` and ``data``.
+
+Decoding of such frames can be efficiently implemented in the following fashion:
+
+.. includecode:: code/akka/docs/io/BinaryCoding.scala
+   :include: decoding
+
+This implementation naturally follows the example data format. In a true Scala application, one might, of course, want use specialized immutable Short/Long/Double containers instead of mutable Arrays.
+
+After extracting data from a ``ByteIterator``, the remaining content can also be turned back into a ``ByteString`` using the ``toSeq`` method
+
+.. includecode:: code/akka/docs/io/BinaryCoding.scala
+   :include: rest-to-seq
+    
+with no copying from bytes to rest involved. In general, conversions from ByteString to ByteIterator and vice versa are O(1) for non-chunked ``ByteString``s and (at worst) O(nChunks) for chunked ByteStrings.
+
+
+Encoding of data also is very natural, using ``ByteStringBuilder``
+
+.. includecode:: code/akka/docs/io/BinaryCoding.scala
+   :include: encoding
+
+ 
+The encoded data then can be sent over socket (see ``IOManager``):
+ 
+.. includecode:: code/akka/docs/io/BinaryCoding.scala
+   :include: sending
+
+
 IO.Handle
 ^^^^^^^^^