Difference Between C++ Text File and Binary File

A text file is the one in which data is stored in the form of ASCII characters and is normally used for storing a stream of characters. Text files are organized around lines, each of which ends with a newline character ('\n'). The source code files are themselves text files.

A binary file is the one in which data is stored in the file in the same way as it is stored in the main memory for processing. It is stored in binary format instead of ASCII characters. It is normally used for storing numeric information (int, float, double). Normally a binary file can be created only from within a program and its contents can be read only by a program.

Text File vs Binary File

The following are some of the differences between text files and binary files.

#include<iostream>                         
#include<fstream>                            
using namespace std;
int main() {
    fstream FileName;                       
    FileName.open("FileName.txt", ios::out);                
    if (!FileName) {                            
        cout<<" Error while creating the file ";          
    }
 
    else {
        cout<<"File created and data got written to file";    
        FileName<<"This is a blog posted on Great Learning";  
        FileName.close() ;}
                    
    return 0 ;
    }

File created and data got written to file

Code explanation :

1. The input/output stream is handled by the iostream library in this case.
2. Additionally, we have a library called fstream that manages files.
making an object of the fstream class with the name "FileName" on it.
3. Applying the open() function to the previously constructed object will allow us to create a new file with the mode set to "out," allowing us to write data into the file.
4. To verify the creation of the file, we utilise the 'if' expression.
5. if the file is missing, prints the message to the terminal.
6. if the file is created or existing, prints the message to the console.
7. To close the file, we utilise the object's close() function.