If you find ByteBuffer's API awkward/insufficient, you might want to consider one of the replacements:

* Netty's: https://netty.io/4.0/api/io/netty/buffer/ByteBuf.html as used by Netty

* Agrona's, as used by Aeron and SBE: http://insightfullogic.com/2015/Apr/18/agronas-threadsafe-of...