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Path class, introduced in the Java SE 7 release, is one of the primary
entrypoints of the
the
java.nio.file package.
If your application uses file I/O, you will want
to learn about the powerful features of this class.
java.io.File, you can still
take advantage of the Path class functionality by using the
File.toPath method. See
Legacy File I/O Code for more information.
As its name implies, the Path
class is a programmatic representation of a path
in the file system. A Path object
contains the file name and directory list used to
construct the path, and is used to examine, locate,
and manipulate files.
A Path instance reflects the underlying platform.
In the Solaris OS, a Path uses the Solaris syntax
(/home/joe/foo) and
in Microsoft Windows, a Path uses the Windows syntax
(C:\home\joe\foo).
A Path is not system independent. You cannot compare
a Path from a Solaris file system and expect it to
match a Path from a Windows file system, even if the
directory structure is identical and both instances locate the same
relative file.
The file or directory corresponding to the Path might not exist.
You can create a Path instance and manipulate it
in various ways: you can append to it, extract pieces of it,
compare it to another path. At the appropriate time,
you can use the methods in the
Files class to check the existence of the file corresponding to the
Path, create the file, open it, delete it,
change its permissions, and so on.
The next page examines the Path class in detail.
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