In C++, file handling is a mechanism to create and perform read/write operations on a file. In this tutorial, you will learn about file handling in C++ with the help of examples.

An open file is represented within a program by a stream (i.e., an object of one of these classes; in the previous example, this was myfile) and any input or output operation performed on this stream object will be applied to the physical file associated to it.

Apr 22, 2025 · There are mainly three main steps in file handling: Before reading from or writing to a file, we first need to open it. Opening a file loads that file in the RAM. In C++, we open a file by creating a stream to it using the fstream class that represent the file stream i.e. stream for input and output to the file. Syntax: where,

Create and Write To a File. To create a file, use either the ofstream or fstream class, and specify the name of the file. To write to the file, use the insertion operator (<<).

When you create a *.cpp file, the extension adds features such as syntax highlighting (colorization), smart completions and hovers (IntelliSense), and error checking. Open VS Code. Select the Extensions view icon on the Activity bar or use the keyboard shortcut (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)). Search for 'C++'. Select Install.

Aug 10, 2024 · What is file handling in C++? The fstream library provides C++ programmers with three classes for working with files. These classes include: ofstream – This class represents an output stream. It’s used for creating files and writing information to files. ifstream – This class represents an input stream.

Apr 14, 2025 · C++ File Handling: Exercises, Practices, Solution - Explore various file handling operations in C++ including creating, opening, counting lines/words, copying, sorting, merging, splitting, searching, encrypting, decrypting, and processing CSV files.

To start using C++, you need two things: There are many text editors and compilers to choose from. In this tutorial, we will use an IDE (see below). An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is used to edit AND compile the code. Popular IDE's include Code::Blocks, Eclipse, and Visual Studio.

To perform file processing in C++, header files <iostream> and <fstream> must be included in your C++ source file. A file must be opened before you can read from it or write to it. Either ofstream or fstream object may be used to open a file for writing. And ifstream object is used to open a file for reading purpose only.

Jul 15, 2021 · In C++, we can read the data of the file for different purposes such as processing text-based data, configuration files, or log files. In this article, we'll learn how to read a file line by line in C++.