Smartly load your properties

Method	Parameter format	Lookup failure behavior	Usage example
ClassLoader. getResourceAsStream()	"/"-separated names; no leading "/" (all names are absolute)	Silent (returns null)	this.getClass().getClassLoader() .getResourceAsStream ("some/pkg/resource.properties")
Class. getResourceAsStream()	"/"-separated names; leading "/" indicates absolute names; all other names are relative to the class's package	Silent (returns null)	this.getClass() .getResourceAsStream ("resource.properties")
ResourceBundle. getBundle()	"."-separated names; all names are absolute; .properties suffix is implied	Throws unchecked java.util.MissingResourceException	ResourceBundle.getBundle ("some.pkg.resource")

and there're more tips in the linked resource below.

Resources

1. Smartly load your properties