Character streams are a way to read and write data in the form of characters, typically used in programming. They allow for the handling of text data, making it easier to process information like letters, numbers, and symbols. In many programming languages, character streams are implemented through classes or functions that manage input and output operations. These streams can be found in various contexts, such as in the Java programming language, where FileReader and FileWriter classes are used to handle character data. Character streams are essential for tasks like reading from or writing to files, enabling developers to manipulate text efficiently.