This question already has an answer here:
- Scanner vs. BufferedReader 12 answers
Can anyone explain me the difference between the class BufferedReader
, FileReader
and Scanner
? and which one to use when I want to read a text file?
This question already has an answer here:
Can anyone explain me the difference between the class BufferedReader
, FileReader
and Scanner
? and which one to use when I want to read a text file?
Well:
FileReader
is just a Reader
which reads a file, using the platform-default encoding (urgh)BufferedReader
is a wrapper around another Reader
, adding buffering and the ability to read a line at a timeScanner
reads from a variety of different sources, but is typically used for interactive input. Personally I find the API of Scanner
to be pretty painful and obscure.To read a text file, I would suggest using a FileInputStream
wrapped in an InputStreamReader
(so you can specify the encoding) and then wrapped in a BufferedReader
for buffering and the ability to read a line at a time.
Alternatively, you could use a third-party library which makes it simpler, such as Guava:
File file = new File("foo.txt");
List<String> lines = Files.readLines(file, Charsets.UTF_8);
Or if you're using Java 7, it's already available for you in java.nio.file.Files
:
Path path = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath("foo.txt");
List<String> lines = Files.readAllLines(path, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
And as per your question for reading a text file you should use BufferedReader
because Scanner
hides IOException while BufferedReader
throws it immediately.
BufferedReader
is synchronized and Scanner
is not.
Scanner
is used for parsing tokens from the contents of the stream.
BufferedReader
just reads the stream.
For more info follow the link (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Java-1046/2009/2/Difference-Scanner-Method-Buffered.htm)