File IO Notes

Serialization turns an object graph into bytes and back. It is easy to switch on, hard to maintain, and a genuine security risk.

Java

Every unbuffered read is a system call. Buffering turns thousands of them into a handful, and it is the single largest I/O win available.

Java

InputStream and OutputStream carry raw bytes; Reader and Writer carry characters. Choosing wrongly corrupts data.

Java

Path names a location and Files performs the operations. Together they replaced the older File class for almost every purpose.