Text and Binary Files
File input and output
Files and streams

How files and streams work

An input file is a file that is read by a program.
An output file is a file that is written by a program.
Input and output operations are often referred to as I/O operations or file I/O.
A stream is the flow of data from one location to another.
To write data to a file from internal storage, you use an output stream.
To read from a file into internal storage, you use an input stream.
To read and write text files, you use character streams.
To read and write binary files, you use binary streams.
Streams are not only used with disk devices, but also with input devices like keyboards and network connections and output devices like PC monitors and network connections.

A text file that's opened by a text editor

A binary file that's opened by a text editor

Two types of files

File	Description
Text	A file that contains characters. The fields and records in this type of file are often delimited by special characters like tab and new line characters.
Binary	A file that may contain characters as well as other non-character data types that can't be read by a text editor.

Two types of streams

Stream	Description
Character	Used to transfer text data to or from an I/O device.
Binary	Used to transfer binary data to or from an I/O device.