Reader is for text/characters while InputStream is for bytes. An InputStream always lays at the heart of a Reader. Java's I/O may not be the most elegant of simplest, but it makes additive sense assuming you don't just have a bone to pick with the language.
The float examples are artifacts of pragmatism between plain old data types versus heap allocated objects. Though I do admit Vector<Float> is absolutely obsolete and should be avoided. The others have a clear purpose and raison d'être.
> The others have a clear purpose and raison d'être.
Yes, but they don't compose cleanly together. As in, I can't just use FloatVector in all places that took a FloatBuffer previously or whatever. They aren't additive in an incremental migration sense, they are additive in the "these are just wholly unrelated APIs in their own wholly distinct silos" sense. Aka, the thing C++ is regularly slammed for doing even though it's additions aren't even this clunky.
The float examples are artifacts of pragmatism between plain old data types versus heap allocated objects. Though I do admit Vector<Float> is absolutely obsolete and should be avoided. The others have a clear purpose and raison d'être.
Now java.util.Date on the other hand…