Configurable Values in Enum <p>I often use this design in my code to maintain configurable values. Consider this code:</p> <pre><code>public enum Options { REGEX_STRING("Some Regex"), REGEX_PATTERN(Pattern.compile(REGEX_STRING.getString()), false), THREAD_COUNT(2), OPTIONS_PATH("options.config", false), DEBUG(true), ALWAYS_SAVE_OPTIONS(true), THREAD_WAIT_MILLIS(1000); Object value; boolean saveValue = true; private Options(Object value) { this.value = value; } private Options(Object value, boolean saveValue) { this.value = value; this.saveValue = saveValue; } public void setValue(Object value) { this.value = value; } public Object getValue() { return value; } public String getString() { return value.toString(); } public boolean getBoolean() { Boolean booleanValue = (value instanceof Boolean) ? (Boolean) value : null; if (value == null) { try { booleanValue = Boolean.valueOf(value.toString()); } catch (Throwable t) { } } // We want a NullPointerException here return booleanValue.booleanValue(); } public int getInteger() { Integer integerValue = (value instanceof Number) ? ((Number) value).intValue() : null; if (integerValue == null) { try { integerValue = Integer.valueOf(value.toString()); } catch (Throwable t) { } } return integerValue.intValue(); } public float getFloat() { Float floatValue = (value instanceof Number) ? ((Number) value).floatValue() : null; if (floatValue == null) { try { floatValue = Float.valueOf(value.toString()); } catch (Throwable t) { } } return floatValue.floatValue(); } public static void saveToFile(String path) throws IOException { FileWriter fw = new FileWriter(path); Properties properties = new Properties(); for (Options option : Options.values()) { if (option.saveValue) { properties.setProperty(option.name(), option.getString()); } } if (DEBUG.getBoolean()) { properties.list(System.out); } properties.store(fw, null); } public static void loadFromFile(String path) throws IOException { FileReader fr = new FileReader(path); Properties properties = new Properties(); properties.load(fr); if (DEBUG.getBoolean()) { properties.list(System.out); } Object value = null; for (Options option : Options.values()) { if (option.saveValue) { Class&lt;?&gt; clazz = option.value.getClass(); try { if (String.class.equals(clazz)) { value = properties.getProperty(option.name()); } else { value = clazz.getConstructor(String.class).newInstance(properties.getProperty(option.name())); } } catch (NoSuchMethodException ex) { Debug.log(ex); } catch (InstantiationException ex) { Debug.log(ex); } catch (IllegalAccessException ex) { Debug.log(ex); } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) { Debug.log(ex); } catch (InvocationTargetException ex) { Debug.log(ex); } if (value != null) { option.setValue(value); } } } } } </code></pre> <p>This way, I can save and retrieve values from files easily. The problem is that I don't want to repeat this code everywhere. Like as we know, enums can't be extended; so wherever I use this, I have to put all these methods there. I want only to declare the values and that if they should be persisted. No method definitions each time; any ideas?</p>