YAML Format Differences

YAML is also a popular configuration-file format. Its biggest advantage is that it can express array types, and it is more readable and intuitive than properties files.

caution

The only point to note is that when multiple properties files are loaded, duplicate keys overwrite earlier values. To avoid this, use XML and isolate configuration with namespaces.

YAML format

mySelf:
  myName: 'Yongchun Zhao'
  myAge: 12
  myBirthday: '1986-01-01 00:00:00'
  myWork: 'Software Engineer'
  myProjectURL: 'http://www.hasor.net/'
  source: 'Yaml'
arrays: [ 'a','b' ]

Settings settings = ...
String myName = settings.getString("mySelf.myName");
// myName is 'Yongchun Zhao'.

assert settings.getString("arrays").equals("b");
assert settings.getStringArray("arrays")[0].equals("a");
assert settings.getStringArray("arrays")[1].equals("b");