fs.readFile - Javascript

Introduction

The fs.readFile method is a built-in function of the Node.js file system module that is used to read the contents of a file asynchronously. This method allows a file to be read without blocking the code execution of the rest of the application.

Syntax

fs.readFile(path[, options], callback)

The fs.readFile method accepts three parameters:

• path: The path to the file that needs to be read. This can be a string or a URL object.
• options: An optional argument that can be used to specify encoding, flags or mode.
• callback: A callback function that is called with two arguments: error and data. The error argument is null if there is no error and data argument contains the file content.

Example

const fs = require('fs')

fs.readFile('example.txt', 'utf-8', (err, data) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(data);
});

In this example, the fs.readFile method is used to read the contents of the file example.txt. The utf-8 encoding option is specified, and a callback function is used to handle the results of the method call.

Conclusion

The fs.readFile method is a powerful and easy-to-use function for reading files asynchronously in Node.js. It allows for efficient file-reading without blocking the execution of the rest of the application.