What is the main use of the ResourceBundle class? Can it be used instead of the Properties class? If so what are the advantages?

ResourceBundle is a property file handler with locales support, it allows you to support multiple languages in your application. There's a full explaination on what ResourceBundle is and how it has to be used in the javadoc.

Yes, ResourceBundle can be used instead of the Properties class. It would be particularly usefull when developing applications for different languages. The ResourceBundle class will find the correct properties file based on the current user locale.

The advantages of using ResourceBundle taken from the javadoc This allows you to write programs that can:

• be easily localized, or translated, into different languages
• handle multiple locales at once
• be easily modified later to support even more locales