The Reader/Writer class is character-oriented and the InputStream/OutputStream class is byte-oriented.

In Java, Reader and Writer are used for character-based input and output, whereas InputStream and OutputStream are used for byte-based input and output.

Reader and Writer:
- Character-oriented: Reader and Writer are designed for reading and writing characters.
- Encoding: They deal with character encoding and decoding. They are suitable for handling text data.
- Methods: They provide methods like read() and write() that work with characters, making it easy to handle text-based data.

java

Reader reader = new FileReader("example.txt");

int data = reader.read(); // reads characters

InputStream and OutputStream:
- Byte-oriented: InputStream and OutputStream are designed for reading and writing raw bytes.
- Binary data: They are suitable for handling binary data, such as images or non-text files.
- Methods: They provide methods like read() and write() that work with bytes.

java

InputStream inputStream = new FileInputStream("example.bin");

int byteData = inputStream.read(); // reads bytes

In summary, the main difference lies in the type of data they handle. Reader and Writer are designed for character data and provide methods to work with characters, while InputStream and OutputStream are designed for byte data and provide methods to work with raw bytes. The choice between them depends on the type of data you are dealing with in your application.