Exam 70-536 - Input/Output

I finished another chapter in my book, Input/Output, which covers the following:

Implementing serialization and input/output functionality in a .NET Framework application

• Access files and folders by using the File System classes.

  • File class and FileInfo class
  • Directory class and DirectoryInfo class
  • DriveInfo class and DriveType enumeration
  • FileSystemInfo class and FileSystemWatcher class
  • Path class
  • ErrorEventArgs class and ErrorEventHandler delegate
  • RenamedEventArgs class and RenamedEventHandler delegate

• Manage byte streams by using Stream classes.

  • FileStream class
  • Stream class
  • MemoryStream class
  • BufferedStream class

• Manage the .NET Framework application data by using Reader and Writer classes.

  • StringReader class and StringWriter class
  • TextReader class and TextWriter class
  • StreamReader class and StreamWriter class
  • BinaryReader class and BinaryWriter class

• Compress or decompress stream information in a .NET Framework application and improve the security of application data by using isolated storage.

  • IsolatedStorageFile class
  • IsolatedStorageFileStream class
  • DeflateStream class
  • GZipStream class

One nice thing I learned is how easily you can compress and decompress data.

More importantly, it’s so easy because of the central role streams play in the framework. Once you get your head around streams, it’s easy to use various kinds of them, like FileStream and MemoryStream, to get things done.

Another best practice I picked up: stop writing application-specific configuration data to .xml or .ini files and store it in isolated storage instead. It’s the new registry! :)

Besides the basic fundamentals of working with streams and the nice features you basically get for free once you know how to work with them, there are also some helper classes to work with the file system: File and FileInfo, Directory and DirectoryInfo, DriveInfo, FileSystemWatcher and Path.