Easiest way to read from and write to files

Question

There are a lot of different ways to read and write files (text files, not binary) in C#.

I just need something that is easy and uses the least amount of c

Answer 1

In addition to File.ReadAllText, File.ReadAllLines, and File.WriteAllText (and similar helpers from File class) shown in another answer you can use StreamWriter/StreamReader classes.

Writing a text file:

using(StreamWriter writetext = new StreamWriter("write.txt"))
{
    writetext.WriteLine("writing in text file");
}

Reading a text file:

using(StreamReader readtext = new StreamReader("readme.txt"))
{
   string readText = readtext.ReadLine();
}

Notes:

• You can use readtext.Dispose() instead of using, but it will not close file/reader/writer in case of exceptions
• Be aware that relative path is relative to current working directory. You may want to use/construct absolute path.
• Missing using/Close is very common reason of "why data is not written to file".