Java The Complete Reference, Seventh Edition

Objects of a class that implementsCloseablecan be closed. It defines theclose( )method,

shown here:

void close( ) throws IOException

This method closes the invoking stream, releasing any resources that it may hold. This

interface is implemented by all of the I/O classes that open a stream that can be closed.

Objects of a class that implementsFlushablecan force buffered output to be written

to the stream to which the object is attached. It defines theflush( )method, shown here:

void flush( ) throws IOException

Flushing a stream typically causes buffered output to be physically written to the underlying

device. This interface is implemented by all of the I/O classes that write to a stream.

The Stream Classes

Java’s stream-based I/O is built upon four abstract classes:InputStream,OutputStream,

Reader, andWriter. These classes were briefly discussed in Chapter 13. They are used to

create several concrete stream subclasses. Although your programs perform their I/O

operations through concrete subclasses, the top-level classes define the basic functionality

common to all stream classes.

InputStreamandOutputStreamare designed for byte streams.ReaderandWriterare

designed for character streams. The byte stream classes and the character stream classes

form separate hierarchies. In general, you should use the character stream classes when

working with characters or strings, and use the byte stream classes when working with

bytes or other binary objects.

In the remainder of this chapter, both the byte- and character-oriented streams are

examined.

The Byte Streams

The byte stream classes provide a rich environment for handling byte-oriented I/O. A byte

stream can be used with any type of object, including binary data. This versatility makes

byte streams important to many types of programs. Since the byte stream classes are topped

byInputStreamandOutputStream, our discussion will begin with them.

InputStream

InputStreamis an abstract class that defines Java’s model of streaming byte input. It implements

theCloseableinterface. Most of the methods in this class will throw anIOExceptionon error

conditions. (The exceptions aremark( )andmarkSupported( ).) Table 19-1 shows the methods

inInputStream.

OutputStream

OutputStreamis an abstract class that defines streaming byte output. It implements the

CloseableandFlushableinterfaces. Most of the methods in this class returnvoidand throw

anIOExceptionin the case of errors. (The exceptions aremark( )andmarkSupported( ).)

Table 19-2 shows the methods inOutputStream.

562 Part II: The Java Library