My approach to this these days is: * all configuration, without exception, is XML. * all configuration may be generated from any other format imaginable, but

My approach to this these days is: * all configuration, without exception, is XML. * all configuration may be generated from any other format imaginable, but it's sure as fuck going into the Big Main Godlike Application as XML. Separation, interfaces, etc. Disclaimer: I work in .NET almost exclusively. The .NET configuration APIs generally work, as long as you only ever use them for reading; treating config as something the application itself can fiddle with is a fast route to madness.