Какое отличие между классами InputStream и Reader при работе с потоками данных в Java?

The InputStream class is designed for reading byte streams, that is, it works with raw bytes. It is used when you need to read binary data, for example, from files, network connections, or other sources.

The Reader class works with character streams, that is, with text data. It considers character encoding and converts bytes into characters, which is convenient for working with text.

Example:

InputStream input = new FileInputStream("file.bin"); // for binary data
Reader reader = new FileReader("file.txt"); // for text data

Thus, the main difference is that InputStream works with bytes, while Reader works with characters, taking encoding into account.