File.createNewFile() thowing IOException No such file or directory

Question

I have a method that writes to a log file. If the file exists it should append to it, if not then I want it to create a new file.

if (!file.exists() &&am         


        

Answer 1

According to the [java docs](http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/io/File.html#createNewFile() ) createNewFile will create a new file atomically for you.

Atomically creates a new, empty file named by this abstract pathname if and only if a file with this name does not yet exist.

Given that createNewFile is atomic and won't over-write an existing file you can re-write your code as

try {
    if(!file.createNewFile()) {
        System.out.println("File already exists");
    } 
} catch (IOException ex) {
    System.out.println(ex);
}

This may make any potential threading issues, race-conditions, etc, easier to spot.