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For example, a sample data file “Application.dat” that stores the details of candidates applying for an interview for the
              post of a programmer is given below.
                                                                Fields




                     Application_Number       Applicant_Name            Mobile_No                Mail_ID
                    P100101                Ajay Nanda             9876501210             ajay.n@gmail.com
                    P100102                Geeta Suresh           7665743781             geeta.pune@yahoomail.com
                    P100103                Akash Singh            7453523544             akash.b2002@rediffmail.com


                                                               Record
              In Java, mainly two types of files are used to store data which are as follows:

              •  Text Files: The files that store data in the form of human-readable text are known as text files. These files contain
                 data as a sequence of characters in the form of ASCII or UNICODE characters. A text file is identified by .txt extension.
                 In this type of file, each line is terminated by an End of Line (EOL) character.

              •  Binary Files: Binary files are not in human-readable form. These are machine-readable files. A binary file stores data
                 in the form of 0s and 1s. There is no need to put a comma, space, or an end-of-line character in the binary files.


                  12.4 INTRODUCING STREAMS
              In Java, a sequence of data is called a stream. In other words, a stream can be defined as a path along which the data
              travels from an input device to a program and from a program to an output device. It is a communication medium
              through which the data is stored and retrieved. The stream used to read data from various input devices is known
              as the input stream. The stream used to write data to various output devices is known as the output stream. These
              streams are used to perform input/output operations on files. The java.io package provides all the classes to perform
              these operations. Streams in Java are of two types:

                                                           Streams in Java




                                            Byte Stream                    Character Stream


              Let us learn about these in detail.

              12.4.1 Byte Stream
              Byte-oriented input/output is performed on binary files that store data in machine-readable form. Byte stream class
              handles data in bytes. Java has two abstract classes which are the superclasses of all other classes used to read or write
              a stream of bytes. These two classes are as follows:

                                                         Byte Stream Classes




                                      InputStream                                  OutputStream





                        FileInputStream         DataInputStream      FileOutputStream        DataOutputStream



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