What is the best option for reading Java property files?
<p>I have an application which uses a servlet to read an intialization parameter from web.xml for the location of a property file. The serlvet then creates an instance of a class which stores the location of the file for other programs to read as required. This class has appropriate get and set methods.</p>

<p>But my question concerns access to the properties: should the physical property file be read by each program as at runtime or should the properties be stored in memory instead?</p>

<p>The properties are not currently altered at runtime but this could change? I've seen various alternative approaches but am not sure which is best.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Mr Morgan</p>
