How to export data to CSV file in Java

In this tutorial, we are going to see how to write or export data to a CSV file in Java.

A CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file is just a regular text file, which stores data column by column and divides it by separators (commas).
 

Example: The Book class

The Book class contains details of books such as title, author, and year of publication.

class Book
{
    public String title;
    public String author;
    public int year;
    
    public Book(String title,String author,int year)
    {   this.title=title;
        this.author=author;
        this.year=year;
    }
    public String getTitle()
    {
        return title;
    }
     public String getAuthor()
    {
        return author;
    }
    public int getYear()
    {
        return year;
    }
    public void setTitle(String title)
    {
        this.title=title;
    }
     public void setAuthor(String author)
    {
       this.author=author;
    }
    public void setYear(int year)
    {
        this.year=year;
    }
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "Book [title="+title+", author="+author+", year="+year+"]";
    }
}

 

Write into CSV file

We are going to use the FileWriter class to export our Book object to “Book.csv”.

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;

public class Main 
{
	//Delimiters that must be in the CSV file
	private static final String DELIMITER = ",";
	private static final String SEPARATOR = "\n";
    
    //File header
    private static final String HEADER = "Title,Author,Year";
    
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
    	//Create new objects
    	Book book1 = new Book("Darkness to Light", "Lamar Odam", 1992);
    	Book book2 = new Book("We Are Displaced", "Malala Yousafzai", 1981);
    	Book book3 = new Book("I Am Malala", "Christina Lamb", 1978);
    	Book book4 = new Book("Girl Women", "Satyarth Nayak", 1966);
    	Book book5 = new Book("Forgotten Past", "Peter Baker", 1971);

    	//Add objects to the list
    	List bookList = new ArrayList();
    	bookList.add(book1);
    	bookList.add(book2);
    	bookList.add(book3);
    	bookList.add(book4);
    	bookList.add(book5);
    	
    	FileWriter file = null;
    	
    	try
    	{
    		file = new FileWriter("Book.csv");
    		//Add header
    		file.append(HEADER);
    		//Add a new line after the header
    		file.append(SEPARATOR);
    		//Iterate through bookList
    		Iterator it = bookList.iterator();
    		while(it.hasNext())
    		{
    			Book b = (Book)it.next();
    			file.append(b.getTitle());
    			file.append(DELIMITER);
    			file.append(b.getAuthor());
    			file.append(DELIMITER);
    			file.append(String.valueOf(b.getYear()));
    			file.append(SEPARATOR);
    		}
			
    		file.close();
    	}
    	catch(Exception e)
    	{
    		e.printStackTrace();
    	}
    }
}

Output:

Title,Author,Year
Darkness to Light,Lamar Odam,1992
We Are Displaced,Malala Yousafzai,1981
I Am Malala,Christina Lamb,1978
Girl Women,Satyarth Nayak,1966
Forgotten Past,Peter Baker,1971

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