Best way to read properties file in java?

Question

I am aware of two ways to read a .properties file:

1- System.getProperties.load(Inputstream for .properties file);

2- Creating a new Properties object and

Answer 1

Depends on what the properties file represents. If it represents system properties which needs to override/supply some default system properties, then go for the first approach. But if it represents application-specific properties (which is more often the usual case), then go for the second approach.