Why does Java ignore the first line of a .properties file?

Question

I was working with an app that loads a .properties file with java.util.Properties like this:

Properties _properties = new Propertie         


        

Answer 1

Java does not handle the BOM correctly – you can see it in the properties as key. It is possible to save the file UTF-8 but without BOM. In vim for instance

:set nobomb

See vim wiki