Are hard-coded STRINGS ever acceptable?

Question

Similar to Is hard-coding literals ever acceptable?, but I\'m specifically thinking of \"magic strings\" here.

On a large project, we have a table of configuration o

Answer 1

if (config_options.isTrue('FOO_ENABLED')) {...
}

Restrict your hard coded Y check to one place, even if it means writing a wrapper class for your Map.

if (config_options.isFooEnabled()) {...
}

Might seem okay until you have 100 configuration options and 100 methods (so here you can make a judgement about future application growth and needs before deciding on your implementation). Otherwise it is better to have a class of static strings for parameter names.

if (config_options.isTrue(ConfigKeys.FOO_ENABLED)) {...
}