ServletContext Vs Properties file

Question

Dear Friends,
My question is related to optimization.
In our Servlet application, We have to read some values
from properties files. In this which one is better from the following
or is there any better way of doing?
1. Reading from the Properties file everytime required. (So for each user the Properties file have to be accessed)
or
2. Reading from the Properties file once in the init method of the servlet and store those in the Servlet Context variables and use it whenever required.
Please suggest me the best way.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Goudham

Answer 1

I think the best way would be to read the property
file one time and store it as a hashtable and the last
modified date, stored as a Long, should be stored up
in a Hashtable, keyed on the filename. The Properties
should be loaded from the file only if the last
modified time in the Hashtable is less than the last
modified time of the file, or if the filename isn't
found. This insures that a modification check is done
for each Properties file individually, and that they
are all continually up to date. Also on server
restart, all files are reloaded since they aren't
initially listed in the Hashtable.
Just a opinion
-AsheeshThanks!
If I understand correctly, Read the Properties file once and store the Key Value pairs in a Hashtable then maintain this Hashtable in ServletContext? Is this correct?
- Goudham