Common I/O Tasks in Modern Java

The article discusses common I/O tasks in modern Java, particularly focusing on improvements made since Java 8. Key topics include reading and writing text files, handling web data, and managing files in directories. Java 18 established UTF-8 as the default character encoding, simplifying text I/O operations. The java.nio.file.Files class, enhanced in Java 8, 11, and 12, provides efficient methods for file operations. For reading text files, developers can use Files.readString and Files.readAllLines, while large files can be processed lazily with Files.lines. Writing text files is straightforward with Files.writeString and Files.write. The article also highlights the use of InputStream for reading data from the web, recommending HttpClient for requests requiring headers, and simpler methods for direct data retrieval. The Files API is emphasized for directory traversal, with Files.list and Files.walk being the primary methods for accessing directory entries. For ZIP file handling, Java 8 introduced a more user-friendly ZIP file system, allowing for easier file operations within ZIP archives. Temporary files and directories can be created using Files.createTempFile and Files.createTempDirectory. The article concludes by encouraging developers to utilize the Files methods for common tasks, avoiding legacy classes like java.io.File, and to adopt simpler approaches for I/O operations.