diff --git a/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/codec/ReadableBuffer.java b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/codec/ReadableBuffer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1360d76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proton-j/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/proton/codec/ReadableBuffer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.qpid.proton.codec;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.CharBuffer;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+
+/**
+ * Interface to abstract a buffer, similar to {@link WritableBuffer}
+ */
+public interface ReadableBuffer {
+
+    void put(ReadableBuffer other);
+
+    byte get();
+
+    int getInt();
+
+    long getLong();
+
+    short getShort();
+
+    float getFloat();
+
+    double getDouble();
+
+    ReadableBuffer get(final byte[] data, final int offset, final int length);
+
+    ReadableBuffer get(final byte[] data);
+
+    ReadableBuffer position(int position);
+
+    ReadableBuffer slice();
+
+    ReadableBuffer flip();
+
+    ReadableBuffer limit(int limit);
+
+    int limit();
+
+    int remaining();
+
+    int position();
+
+    boolean hasRemaining();
+
+    ReadableBuffer duplicate();
+
+    ByteBuffer byteBuffer();
+
+    String readUTF8();
+
+    final class ByteBufferReader implements ReadableBuffer {
+
+        private static final Charset Charset_UTF8 = Charset.forName("UTF-8");
+
+        private ByteBuffer buffer;
+
+        public static ByteBufferReader allocate(int size) {
+            ByteBuffer allocated = ByteBuffer.allocate(size);
+            return new ByteBufferReader(allocated);
+        }
+
+        public ByteBufferReader(ByteBuffer buffer) {
+            this.buffer = buffer;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public byte get() {
+            return buffer.get();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int getInt() {
+            return buffer.getInt();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public long getLong() {
+            return buffer.getLong();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public short getShort() {
+            return buffer.getShort();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public float getFloat() {
+            return buffer.getFloat();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public double getDouble() {
+            return buffer.getDouble();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int limit() {
+            return buffer.limit();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ReadableBuffer get(byte[] data, int offset, int length) {
+            buffer.get(data, offset, length);
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ReadableBuffer get(byte[] data) {
+            buffer.get(data);
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ReadableBuffer flip() {
+            buffer.flip();
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ReadableBuffer position(int position) {
+            buffer.position(position);
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ReadableBuffer slice() {
+            return new ByteBufferReader(buffer.slice());
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ReadableBuffer limit(int limit) {
+            buffer.limit(limit);
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int remaining() {
+            return buffer.remaining();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int position() {
+            return buffer.position();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean hasRemaining() {
+            return buffer.hasRemaining();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ReadableBuffer duplicate() {
+            return new ByteBufferReader(buffer.duplicate());
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public ByteBuffer byteBuffer() {
+            return buffer;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String readUTF8() {
+            CharBuffer charBuf = Charset_UTF8.decode(buffer);
+            return charBuf.toString();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void put(ReadableBuffer other) {
+            this.buffer.put(other.byteBuffer());
+        }
+    }
+}
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