The java.nio PackagesAll of the classes we have discussed so far are found in the java.io package. Up until Java 1.3, the java.io package is where most I/O functionality could be found. One of the additions to Java 1.4 was the java.nio family of packages. Notable features of the java.nio packages include buffer classes for primitive data types to improve I/O performance, classes that define character set encoders and decoders to convert bytes to Unicode characters and vice versa, and a regular expression pattern matching capability. With respect to scientific and engineering programming applications, the features provided by the java.nio packages are refinements that are beyond the scope of this book, which is to explore the core elements of applying Java to technical programming. For more information on java.nio , consult the Sun Java doc pages. |