∟javax.crypto.Cipher - The Secret Key Encryption Class
This section provides a quick introduction of the cipher class, javax.crypto.Cipher, to encrypt input data with a secret key.
In the previous chapter, I learned how to use classes and interfaces in the
JCE (Java Cryptography Extension) package to generate and manage secret keys.
Now I am ready to learn how to use secret keys to encrypt or cipher any input data
using the javax.crypto.Cipher class.
javax.crypto.Cipher is a class that provides functionality of a cryptographic cipher
for encryption and decryption. It has the following major methods.
getInstance() - Returns a Cipher object of the specified transformation
(algorithm plus options) from the implementation of the specified provider.
If provider is not specified, the default implementation is used.
This is a static method.
init() - Initializes this cipher for the specified operation mode with
the specified key or public key certificate. Two important operation modes are
Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE and Cipher.DECRYPT_MODE.
update() - Feeds additional input data to this cipher and generates partial
output data.
doFinal() - Feeds the last part of the input data to this cipher and generates
the last part of the output data.
getBlockSize() - Returns the block size of this cipher.
getAlgorithm() - Returns the algorithm name of this cipher.
getProvider() - Returns the provider as a Provider object of this cipher.
See the next section how to use the javax.crypto.Cipher class in a sample program.
