How do I check if a file exists in Java?

Question

How can I check whether a file exists, before opening it for reading in Java (the equivalent of Perl\'s -e $filename

Answer 1

I would recommend using isFile() instead of exists(). Most of the time you are looking to check if the path points to a file not only that it exists. Remember that exists() will return true if your path points to a directory.

new File("path/to/file.txt").isFile();

new File("C:/").exists() will return true but will not allow you to open and read from it as a file.