The Java NIO model is the last and second IO and File System mechanism of Java. It's available since Java 7. Before, the IO model was based on Java - Java IO.
In NIO, you define a file or a directory by creating first a path object. On this object, you can do path operations (such as getParent). If you want to do File System operations, you need to use the method of the Files utility class.
For examples, see:
NIO is not uniquely bound to local IO and can perform remote IO operations through an channel object.
A channel represents an open connection to an entity such as a hardware device, a file, a network socket, or a program component that is capable of performing one or more distinct I/O operations, for example reading or writing.