Properties vs Resource Bundle

Question

I read about properties and resource bundle. But I was unable to get difference between these. When to use Properties file and when to use Resource bundle.

T

Answer 1

Yes, you're thinking along the right lines.

Resource bundles don't have to use property files - it's just one implementation (PropertyResourceBundle). A properties file is really just a string-to-string mapping - and that can be used for i18n, but doesn't have to be.

ResourceBundle gives you a consistent way of requesting the appropriate object (usually a string) for a particular locale, with fallbacks etc. This is often, but not always, backed by a separate property file for each language.

So yes: if you're dealing with i18n, you should use ResourceBundle; if you just need a string-to-string map persisted in a text file, it's fine to use Properties directly.