All of Java’s Input/Output (I/O) facilities are based on streams, which provide simple ways to read and write data of different types. Java offers many different kinds of streams, each with its own application. Java I/O tells you all you need to know about the four main categories of streams and uncovers less-known features to help make your I/O operations more efficient. You’ll find detailed coverage of input and output streams for reading and writing binary data, and readers and writers for reading and writing textual (character) data. You’ll then learn about the more elusive CryptInputStream for reading encrypted data and the ZipOutputStream for automatically compressing data, plus how to effectively use buffered streams. Java is the first programming language that lets you do I/O in virtually any language. It also provides a sophisticated model for formatting textual and numeric data. Java I/O shows you how to control number formatting, use characters aside from the standard (but outdated) ASCII character set, and get a head start on writing truly multilingual software.
