Stream Classes

The .NET Framework classes offer a streams-based I/O framework, with the core classes in the System.IO namespace. All classes that represent streams inherit from the Stream class, and the key classes are listed in Table 11-1.

Table 11-1. Stream Classes in the .NET Framework

Class	Description
Stream	The abstract base class Stream supports reading and writing bytes.
FileStream	In addition to basic Stream behavior, this class supports random access to files through its Seek method and supports both synchronous and asynchronous operation.
MemoryStream	A nonbuffered stream whose encapsulated data is directly accessible in memory. This stream has no backing store and might be useful as a temporary buffer.
BufferedStream	A stream that adds buffering to another stream, such as a NetworkStream. (FileStream already has buffering internally, and a MemoryStream doesn’t need buffering.) A BufferedStream object can be composed around some types of streams to improve read and write performance.
TextReader	The abstract base class for StreamReader and StringReader objects. While the implementations of the abstract Stream class are designed for byte input and output, the implementations of TextReader are designed for Unicode character output.
StreamReader	Reads characters from a Stream, using Encoding to convert characters to and from bytes.
StringReader	Reads characters from a String. StringReader allows you to treat a String with the same API; thus, your output can be either a Stream in any encoding or a String.
TextWriter	The abstract base class for StreamWriter and StringWriter objects. While the implementations of the abstract Stream class are designed for byte input and output, the implementations of TextWriter are designed for Unicode character input.
StreamWriter	Writes characters to a Stream, using Encoding to convert characters to bytes.
StringWriter	Writes characters to a String. StringWriter allows you to treat a String with the same API; thus, your output can be either a Stream in any encoding or a String.
BinaryReader	Reads binary data from a stream.
BinaryWriter	Writes binary data to a stream.