How to write to a file in Kotlin

Overview

There are multiple ways to write to a file in Kotlin. We’ll discuss the following two ways:

  1. The writeText method
  2. The writeBytes method

The writeText() method

It’s easier to write to a file using the writeText() method. It allows us to write a string to a file. The method first encodes the given text to the specified encoding and then internally uses the writeBytes() method to write to a file.

Syntax

File.writeText(text: String, charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8)

Parameter

  • text: We use this parameter text/string to write to a file.
  • charset: We use this character set/encoding.

Code

import java.io.File
fun main() {
    val fileName = "file.txt"
    val myFile = File(fileName)
    val content = "Educative is the best platform."
    myFile.writeText(content)
    println("Written to the file")
}

The writeBytes() method

The writeBytes() method writes a ByteArray to the specified file.

Syntax

File.writeBytes(array: ByteArray)

Parameter

  • array: This is the byte array to write to a file.

Code

import java.io.File
fun main() {
    val fileName = "file.txt"
    val myFile = File(fileName)
    val content = "Educative is the best platform."
    myFile.writeBytes(content.toByteArray())
    println("Written to the file")
}

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