Java 11 Files New Methods

Java 11 added new methods in Files class for better file handling. These methods are:

• readString(Path path)

• writeString(Path path, CharSequence csq, OpenOption... options)

• writeString(Path path, CharSequence csq, Charset cs, OpenOption... options)

Let's understand these methods individually with the help of examples.

Java Files readString() Method

This method is used to read all content from a file into a string. The method ensures that the file is closed when all content has been read. The syntax of the method is given below:

public static String readString(Path path) throws IOException

Basic Example:

In this example, we are reading a file by using the readString() method that returns data in string form:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Main {  
	public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException{
		try {
		Path path = Paths.get("abc.txt");
		String data = Files.readString(path);
		System.out.println(data);
		System.out.println(data.getClass().getName());
		}catch(IOException e) {
			System.out.println(e.getMessage());
		}
	}        
}

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java.lang.String

Java Files writeString() Method

This method is used to write a string to a file. Characters are encoded into bytes using the UTF-8 charset. Files provide one more method that allows setting charset:

public static Path writeString?(Path path, CharSequence csq, OpenOption... options) throws IOException
public static Path writeString?(Path path, CharSequence csq, Charset cs, OpenOption... options) throws IOException

Basic Example:

In this example, we are writing a string to file "abc.txt" by using the writeString() method and reading the written string using readString() method.

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Main {  
	public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException{
		try {
		Path path = Paths.get("abc.txt");
		path = Files.writeString(path, "Welcome to studytonight!!");
		String data = Files.readString(path);
		System.out.println(data);
		}catch(IOException e) {
			System.out.println(e.getMessage());
		}
	}        
}

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Another Example: Specify Charset

If we want to specify charset of charSequence during writing to file then you can use forName() method. See the example below:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Main {  
	public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException{
		try {
		Path path = Paths.get("abc.txt");
		path = Files.writeString(path, "Welcome to studytonight!!", Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
		String data = Files.readString(path);
		System.out.println(data);
		}catch(IOException e) {
			System.out.println(e.getMessage());
		}
	}        
}

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