When looking at a configuration file, we're looking at a human-friendly version of an object state. Often, we'll provide the state of more than one object. When we edit a configuration file, we're changing the persistent state of an object that will get reloaded when the application is started (or restarted). We have two common ways of looking at a configuration file:
- A mapping or a group of mappings from parameter names to configuration values. Note that even when there are nested mappings, the structure is essentially keys and values.
- A serialized object that has complex attributes and properties with the configuration values. The distinguishing feature is the possibility of properties, methods, and derived values in addition to the user-supplied values.
Both of these views are equivalent; the mapping view relies...
