BufferedReader and BufferedWriter are both classes in Java that facilitate efficient reading and writing of character streams.

BufferedReader is designed to read text from a character input stream, providing buffering to improve efficiency. It allows reading characters one at a time or line by line, which reduces the number of I/O operations. The typical usage pattern involves wrapping a Reader (like FileReader) with BufferedReader, reading data, and then closing the BufferedReader, which also closes the wrapped Reader. This class is particularly useful for reading text files, as it can handle line termination characters effectively ²³.

BufferedWriter, on the other hand, is used for writing text to a character output stream. It buffers the output to minimize the number of write operations, which enhances performance. The BufferedWriter class provides methods to write single characters, strings, and line separators. It is important to close the BufferedWriter after use to ensure that all data is flushed to the underlying output stream. Attempting to write after closing it will result in an IOException ¹.

Both classes are part of the Java I/O package and are essential for handling text data efficiently.