1. A computer system comprising: a non-volatile storage system configured to store: at least one file that includes data elements in a structured file format, and at least one configuration file that includes programmatic definitions for observer and/or observable handlers; a processing system that includes at least one hardware processor that is coupled to electronic memory, the processing system configured to: generate at least one in-memory model of the at least one file by loading the at least one file stored in the non-volatile storage system to the electronic memory that is coupled to the at least one hardware processor; create at least one list of observer objects by determining, from among the data elements of the at least one in-memory model, that at least one of the data elements, or a property thereof, is annotated as an observer; create at least one list of observable objects by determining, from among the data elements of the at least one in-memory model, that at least one of the data elements, or a property thereof, is annotated as observable, where each one of the observable elements shares an attribute with at least one of the observer elements; for each one of the created observer and observable objects, generate a handler object and link the handler object to the corresponding created observer or observable object; perform a determination that a data value of a first observable element of the at least one in-memory model is to be updated; in response to the determination, invoke a first generated handler for the first observable object and invoke a second generated handler for an observer object that shares the same attribute with the first observable object, where the first and second generated handlers cause an update to a data value in the at least one in-memory model; and responsive to determination of a successful update of the data value of the at least one in-memory model, persist the in-memory model that was updated to a file on the non-volatile storage medium.