Using the Processing Streams

Processing streams perform some sort of operation, such as buffering or character encoding, as they read and write. Like the data sink streams, java.io often contains pairs of streams: one that performs a particular operation during reading and another that performs the same operation (or reverses it) during writing. This table gives java.io's processing streams.

 

Process	CharacterStreams	Byte Streams
Buffering	BufferedReader, BufferedWriter	BufferedInputStream, BufferedOutputStream
Filtering	FilterReader, FilterWriter	FilterInputStream, FilterOutputStream
Converting between Bytes and Characters	InputStreamReader, OutputStreamWriter
Concatenation		SequenceInputStream
Object Serialization		ObjectInputStream, ObjectOutputStream
Data Conversion		DataInputStream, DataOutputStream
Counting	LineNumberReader	LineNumberInputStream
Peeking Ahead	PushbackReader	PushbackInputStream
Printing	PrintWriter	PrintStream

Notice that many times, java.io contains character streams and byte streams that perform the same processing but for the different data type. The processing streams are briefly described here:

BufferedReader and BufferedWriter BufferedInputStream and BufferedOutputStream

Buffer data while reading or writing, thereby reducing the number of accesses required on the original data source. Buffered streams are typically more efficient than similar nonbuffered streams.

FilterReader and FilterWriter FilterInputStream and FilterOutputStream

Abstract classes, like their parents. They define the interface for filter streams, which filter data as it's being read or written. Working with Filter Streams later in this lesson shows you how to use filter streams and how to implement your own.

InputStreamReader and OutputStreamWriter

A reader and writer pair that forms the bridge between byte streams and character streams. An InputStreamReader reads bytes from an InputStream and converts them to characters using either the default character-encoding or a character-encoding specified by name. Similarly, an OutputStreamWriter converts characters to bytes using either the default character-encoding or a character-encoding specified by name and then writes those bytes to an OutputStream. You can learn the name of the default character-encoding by calling System.getProperty("file.encoding"). Find out more about character-encoding in the Internationalization trail.

SequenceInputStream

Concatenates multiple input streams into one input stream. How to Concatenate Files has a short example of this class.

ObjectInputStream and ObjectOutputStream

Used to serialize objects. See Object Serialization.

DataInputStream and DataOutputStream

Read or write primitive Java data types in a machine-independent format. How to Use DataInputStream and DataOutputStream shows you an example of using these two streams.

LineNumberReader LineNumberInputStream

Keeps track of line numbers while reading.

PushbackReader PushbackInputStream

Two input streams each with a 1-character (or byte) pushback buffer. Sometimes, when reading data from a stream, you will find it useful to peek at the next item in the stream in order to decide what to do next. However, if you do peek ahead, you'll need to put the item back so that it can be read again and processed normally.

PrintWriter PrintStream

Contain convenient printing methods. These are the easiest streams to write to, so you will often see other writable streams wrapped in one of these.