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 provides many different kinds of streams, each with its own application. The universe of streams is divided into four large categories: input streams and output streams, for reading and writing binary data; and readers and writers, for reading and writing textual (character) data. You're almost certainly familiar with the basic kinds of streams--but did you know that there's a CipherInputStream for reading encrypted data? And a ZipOutputStream for automatically compressing data? Do you know how to use buffered streams effectively to make your I/O operations more efficient? Java I/O tells you all you ever need to know about streams--and probably more. A discussion of I/O wouldn't be complete without treatment of character sets and formatting. Java supports the UNICODE standard, which provides definitions for the character sets of most written languages. Consequently, Java is the first programming language that lets you do I/O in virtually any language. Java 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 Java I/O shows you how to control number formatting, use characters aside from the standard (but outdated) ASCII character set, and get a head start on writing truly multilingual software. Java I/O includes:

• Coverage of all I/O classes and related classes

• In-depth coverage of Java's number formatting facilities and its support for International character sets

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 29 Ratings

Great book - 2009-01-23
Reviewer Rating:
This is a great book, honestly I have using a lot of its know-how on my job.
My advise is that all reader should know the decorator pattern to understand better the class structure, and I hope in the next version add some information about it.

Java I/O - 2008-03-24
Reviewer Rating:
Thorough guide to the java.(n)io API. Less useful as a cookbook as the organization of the book follows the API rather than focusing on specific tasks (e.g. how to best copy a file). Could have done without some of the cool chapters such as the one on J2ME (better treated in other books), or the one that describes hooking up a temperature sensor via USB, or a GPS via Bluetooth (publish these projects in a blog). Could also cut the rants about how outdated command line applications are, and I don't think the Swing-based file browser application that's built up throughout the book adds much. On the other hand I'd rather have more on performance considerations and error handling strategies!

Far better resources available - 2007-06-17
Reviewer Rating:
It covers a lot of topics but I did find it particularly helpful in any way. The idea of gathering all the information about I/O into one book to use as a single resource is nice, but this book doesn't do a good job. Not that much help in explaining things and no help at all as far as practical examples went. You will learn much more from general Java books and Google searches.

HAVE A CUP OF JAVA I/O!! - 2006-11-04
Reviewer Rating:
Howell do you know I/O? If you don't know it very well, then this book is for you. Author Elliote Rusty Harold, has done an outstanding job of writing a 2ndedition of a book that shows you the I/O tricks and techniques used by gurus and wizards of the Java world.

Harold, begins with an exploration of I/O in Java. Then, the author discusses the two most common targets of I/O, the filesystem and the network. Next, he discusses filter streams, which are Java's mechanism for processing data as you read or write rather than doing it after the fact. The author also discusses a completely new I/O model based on channels and buffers instead of streams. He continues by discussing operations on files themselves as distinct from the contents of those files. Then, the author explores how text is represented in Java and how it can be manipulated through special text streams called readers and writers. Finally, he shows you how to communicate with different kinds of peripherals and small devices that don't have traditional filesystems or network connections..

This most excellent book assumes you have a basic familiarity with Java. More importantly, this book is not a language tutorial, and the emphasis will always be on the I/O-specific features.

Pretty good coverage of NIO and practical crypto - 2006-09-23
Reviewer Rating:
Not a fan of O'Reilly books, but this one stands out because of excellent NIO coverage and topical examples. It beats the the "Java NIO" book from O'Reilly hands down. Overall I'd say this book is geared for those who want to implement but covers enough detail that it probably even soothes the more 'academic' out there (those who talk a good show but do not build real-world software).

Some highlights:

- You'll find good coverage of cryptographic I/O aimed at practical implementation.

- Excellent NIO coverage (including basic network servers in sync and async patterns)

- ZIP and JAR information including dynamic class loading

- Serial, USB and Bluetooth chapters (caveat: I don't use these but read them out of curiousity)

- Detailed coverage of readers/writers

- And obviously good coverage of the basic java.io/net packages.

As of Septemebr 2006 I find the book topical and current (even had some examples of future Java 6 code). To give you an idea of the detail offered here, there is a whole chapter (37 pages) of information on File access alone including pitfalls of cross-platform implementation. Not reading/writing files...just the trappings of opening and accessing files and directories using particular patterns, URLs, etc. The actual I/O is covered in similar depth in other chapters.

I'd also like to say that I highly appreciate examples that are concise and independant. There is nothing more frustrating than flipping to the middle of a book (what we all do anyway) and going through an example...only to find out that the author is using opaque references to classes and methods he/she developed on their own in five earlier chapters (bouncycastle APIs in Java Cryto for example). This pretty much makes quick-reference difficult to impossible and this book thankfully avoids it in spades.

I give it five starts because it'll be well used in several projects and because it is readable and accessible to both novice and advanced developers alike.

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