Java InputStream -
i reading tutorial using i/o streams in java , stumbled upon following code inputstream: inputstream input = new fileinputstream("c:\\data\\input-file.txt"); int data = input.read(); while(data != -1){ data = input.read(); } the tutorial mentions inputstream returns 1 byte @ time. if want receive more bytes @ time, possible using different method call? use read(byte[]) overload of read() method. try following: byte[] buffer = new byte[1024]; int bytes_read = 0; while((bytes_read=input.read(buffer))!= -1) { // read bytes here } further can channel inputstream datainputstream more specific tasks reading integers, doubles, strings etc. datainputstream dis=new datainputstream(input); dis.readint(); dis.readutf();