Instruction: Describe how to implement custom readable and writable streams in Node.js, including error handling.
Context: This question evaluates the candidate's practical skills in working with Node.js streams, requiring them to explain the creation of custom streams and how they manage data flow and errors.
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First, let's clarify what Node.js streams are: they are collections of data — similar to arrays or strings, but they might not be available all at once and don't have to fit in memory. This makes streams incredibly powerful when dealing with large volumes of data or data that's coming from an external source one chunk at a time.
Custom readable streams are essential when you're dealing with unique data sources or when you need a finer-grained control over the data consumption process. To implement a custom readable stream, you inherit from the stream.Readable class and implement the _read method....