What is Data Files in C programming?

               The input output functions like printf(), scanf(), getchar(), putchar(), gets(), puts() are known as console oriented I/O functions which always use keyboard and computer screen as the target place. While using these library functions, the entire data is lost when either the program is terminated or the computer is turned off. Again, it becomes cumbersome and time consuming to handle large volume of data through keyboard. These problems invite concept of data files in which data can be stored on the disks and read whenever necessary, without destroying data.

                     A file is a place on the disk where a group of related data is stored. The data file allows us to store information permanently and to access and alter that information whenever necessary. Programming language C has various library functions for creating and processing data files. Mainly, there are two types of data files, one is stream oriented or standard or high level and another is system oriented or low level data files. In standard data files, the available library functions do their own buffer management whereas the programmer should do it explicitly in the case of system oriented files. Thus, system oriented data files are generally easier to work with and are therefore more commonly used.

                     The standard data files are again subdivided into text files and binary files. The text files consist of consecutive characters and these characters can be interpreted as individual data item. The binary files organize data into blocks containing contiguous bytes of information.