Question

I’m looking at a class which takes an OutputStream object via its constructor and the uses it to create a PrintStream object as follows:

this.pout = new PrintStream(out);

Then this class uses the pout object in the following manner in a number of places in the class implementation:

String string;
...
pout.print(string);
pout.flush();

Am I correct in saying that the use of PrintStream here is pointless and that this would have done the same job:

this.out = out
...
out.print(string);
out.flush();

where out is of type OutputStream.

Also, I am using this class to write out a command on an a ssh2 connection. I then use a class implementing InputStream to read back the response. Is there any behind the scenes syncing between OutputStream and InputStream or should I always call flush before polling for a reply?

Answer 1

The second snippet is invalid. OutputStream does not have a print() method.

Is there any behind the scenes syncing between OutputStream and InputStream or should I always call flush before polling for a reply?

This depends on the mechanics of the actual stream classes that you’re using. If in doubt, use flush().