CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaapijava-7filewriter
bigsonny
bigsonny

Reputation: 11

Java FileWriter() vs createNewFile()?

is there an advantage to using the FileWriter() class & constructor instead of the createNewFile() method in the File class?

I can't figure out the difference or the advantage. createNewFile() seems simpler and more intuitive so I'm thinking of abandoning my use of the FileWriter but I wanted to check.

Thanks.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1559

Answers (2)

Eng.Fouad
Eng.Fouad

Reputation: 117587

If you just need to create an empty file, then use File.createNewFile(). If you need to write to a file, use FileWriter. The constructor FileWriter(String fileName, boolean append) has append boolean parameter which is useful in most cases.

However, I recommend to use PrintWriter rather than using FileWriter to write char-based data to a file, because of its useful methods such as println().

Upvotes: 0

Steven Schlansker
Steven Schlansker

Reputation: 38526

File.createNewFile() creates only an empty file. A FileWriter additionally allows you to write character-based data out to a file.

Use the most direct and obvious method available. If you want an empty new file, the former will work fine. Anything more complicated will usually involve a Writer or OutputStream of some kind.

Upvotes: 6

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