Zend Framework also handles configs with inheritance. It's an elegant way to handle overrides, no doubt. They do one better by allowing the definition to be in

Zend Framework also handles configs with inheritance. It's an elegant way to handle overrides, no doubt. They do one better by allowing the definition to be in ini files, which would have circumvented the Tumblr bug. Still, I think config files are often best when they're verbose and as straightforward as possible. There are fewer surprises this way. If I'm working on a project by myself or with a very small team of people I trust, I'd go the inheritance route. If the team is larger, I'd go the verbose route.