What is a INI file?
INI — configuration historique
What is it?
The INI file is the ancestor of all configuration formats: sections in brackets, and under each one, keys paired with values. Disarmingly simple.
Its weakness can be summed up in one sentence: it was never standardized. Every piece of software interprets it its own way — comments marked with a semicolon or a hash sign, values with or without quotes, nested sections that may or may not be supported.
History & origin
The format took hold with the earliest versions of Windows, back in the 1980s, as the standard way to store a program's settings.
It was officially superseded by the registry, but largely outlived that replacement: countless programs still favor it, precisely because it's simple and can be edited in any text editor.
Why it is useful
Absolute simplicity — readable and editable by anyone, with no special tools or expertise required.
It's perfectly suited to flat configurations made up of a few dozen settings.
Limits & drawbacks
No standard: two programs won't necessarily read it the same way.
No data types, no lists, no real nesting. Beyond a couple of levels, it becomes unworkable.
Practical tips
For a modern project, convert your INI files to TOML: you'll keep the readability while gaining an actual specification.
To use the configuration within a program, JSON will be easier to parse.
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