Data Streams

Data streams read and write strings, integers, floating-point numbers, and other data that's commonly presented at a higher level than mere bytes. The java.io.DataInputStream and java.io.DataOutputStream classes read and write the primitive Java data types (boolean, int, double, etc.) and strings in a particular, well-defined, platform-independent format. Since DataInputStream and DataOutputStream use the same formats, they're complementary. What a data output stream writes, a data input stream can read and vice versa. These classes are especially useful when you need to move data between platforms that may use different native formats for integers or floating-point numbers.