title: How do I create a Java string from the contents of a file?
body: <p>I've been using the idiom below for some time now. And it seems to be the most wide-spread, at least on the sites I've visited.</p>
  
  <p>Is there a better/different way to read a file into a string in Java?</p>
  
  <pre><code>private String readFile(String file) throws IOException {
      BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader (file));
      String         line = null;
      StringBuilder  stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
      String         ls = System.getProperty("line.separator");
  
      try {
          while((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
              stringBuilder.append(line);
              stringBuilder.append(ls);
          }
  
          return stringBuilder.toString();
      } finally {
          reader.close();
      }
  }
  </code></pre>