Importance of Working With Data Files in Programming

      Working with data files in programming is an essential task for any program.  The ability to manipulate and/or access different data files seems to me, like the main reason a program is even being written to begin with.  Just off the top of my head, an example of real-world data file access and manipulation would be someone looking for a job online.  He/she creates their resume on their computer, and now is ready to submit it online to potential employers. Let’s just say the perfect position is found on a potential employer’s website.  On this website is a sidebar section dedicated for interested candidates to fill out their contact information, attach their resume, and then submit it for consideration.  In order for this to be possible the website must have some sort of program or code to access the data files the user is trying to attach and submit. Not only does it require access, but it needs to be able to be manipulated, or saved for the company to be able to access and evaluate.

      The example I used in this post is a very minimal one of which is very doable without the requirement of extensive memory or CPU resources. Something to consider when writing your programs is “Inefficiently programmed I/O operations, being very CPU- and memory-intensive, can drastically compromise both application and system performance.” (Eremenko, 2002)  One thing you should do is consider whether or not your chosen algorithm is the best method to handle I/O operations and utilizes memory and the CPU efficiently. 

References

Eremenko, S. (2002, June 13). Handling large data files efficiently with Java. Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/handling-large-data-files-efficiently-with-java/