Types of InputStream

InputStream’s job is to represent classes that produce input from different sources. These sources can be:

1. An array of bytes.
2. A String object.
3. A file.
4. A “pipe,” which works like a physical pipe: You put things in at one end and they come out the other.
5. A sequence of other streams, so you can collect them together into a single stream.
6. Other sources, such as an Internet connection. (This is covered in Thinking in Enterprise Java.)

   Table 12-1. Types of InputStream
   

   Class	Function	Constructor Arguments
   		How to use it
   ByteArray-InputStream	Allows a buffer in memory to be used as an InputStream.	The buffer from which to extract the bytes.
   		As a source of data: Connect it to a FilterInputStream object to provide a useful interface.
   StringBuffer-InputStream	Converts a String into an InputStream.	A String. The underlying implementation actually uses a StringBuffer.
   		As a source of data: Connect it to a FilterInputStream object to provide a useful interface.
   File-InputStream	For reading information from a file.	A String representing the file name, or a File or FileDescriptor object.
   		As a source of data: Connect it to a FilterInputStream object to provide a useful interface.
   Piped-InputStream	Produces the data that’s being written to the associated PipedOutput-Stream. Implements the “piping” concept.	PipedOutputStream
   		As a source of data in multithreading: Connect it to a FilterInputStream object to provide a useful interface.
   Sequence-InputStream	Converts two or more InputStream objects into a single InputStream.	Two InputStream objects or an Enumeration for a container of InputStream objects.
   		As a source of data: Connect it to a FilterInputStream object to provide a useful interface.
   Filter-InputStream	Abstract class that is an interface for decorators that provide useful functionality to the other InputStream classes. See Table 12-3.	See Table 12-3.
   		See Table 12-3.

   Thinking in Java
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