StringBuffer() & Performances

[k_en]

I understand that string buffer can append data and write it in a text file. But my question is, how big or the size stringbuffer can store data? can it store more than 10000+ data? what about the performance of the system? Or should i create a if-else statement to check the amount of data that i have been append to the stringbuffer before i write it in the text file and clear the stringbuffer before continue to the next record? will this method be a best idea?Does anyone has a GREAT suggestion ?

[darkagn]

StringBuffer is certainly better in handling lots of operations than a normal String and can handle the same number of characters as a String. It is also completely thread safe.

However if you are using JDK 5 or later, you might want to think about using a StringBuilder if system performance is your major concern. Only do this though if you can GUARANTEE that only a single thread will be accessing it at any one time (it is not thread safe).

Hope this helps,
darkagn

[Ezzaral]

Why do you need to use a StringBuilder or StringBuffer prior to writing the data to a text file? Is there a reason you can't just use a BufferedWriter?

StringBuilder and StringBuffer are the preferred way to construct long strings from many smaller strings or characters, instead of a large number of concatenations, but if you're writing it to a file, a BufferedWriter should serve the same purpose.

[jwenting]

It's often preferably to collate data before writing it out to disk.
That way you can write larger chunks at once, reducing the number of physical disk operations (which improves performance).

[Ezzaral]

Yes, good point, I would certainly agree there. The poster didn't give much detail on his process, so it's tough to say what the most efficient arrangement would be.