How to Create a File in Java

This tutorial shows you how to create a file using java. First we explore the old way using the File class. Next we explore the new Path class introduced in Java 7.

Create a File pre java 7 way

1. mkdirs() creates a new, empty directory if a directory with this name does not exist yet.
2. file.createNewFile() creates a new, empty file if a file with this name does not exist yet.

package com.memorynotfound.file;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

public class CreateFileUsingFile {

    public static void main(String... args){

        try {
            File file = new File("/tmp/foo/bar.txt");

            if (file.getParentFile().mkdirs()){
                System.out.println("directories created");
            } else {
                System.out.println("directories already exist");
            }

            if (file.createNewFile()){
                System.out.println("file created");
            } else {
                System.out.println("file already exitst");
            }
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace(System.err);
        }
    }
}

Create a File from java 7 and beyond

1. Files.createDirectories() creates a new, empty directory if a directory with this name does not exist yet. This method does not throw an exception when the directories already exist.
2. files.createFile() creates a new, empty file if a file with this name does not exist yet. This method throws a FileAlreadyExistsException if the file already exists.

package com.memorynotfound.file;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.FileAlreadyExistsException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class CreateFileUsingPath {

    public static void main(String... args) throws IOException {

        Path path = Paths.get("/tmp/foo/bar.txt");
        Files.createDirectories(path.getParent());

        try {
            Files.createFile(path);
        } catch (FileAlreadyExistsException e) {
            System.err.println("already exists: " + e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

References

• File createNewFile JavaDoc
• Path JavaDoc
• Files createFiles JavaDoc