Check out the Config:: namespace on CPAN. There are quite a few modules that exist for this purpose - pick one that uses the most convenient format for you. I used Config::General a few times, but Config::IniFiles and Config::Simple also look good. I selected Config::General because it allowed me to insert comments and blank lines for whitespace, and also use a block structure to nest levels of config parameters (thereby giving me the ability to construct a HoH or other complex data structure). Config::IniFiles reads INI style files and Config::General reads a INI-like files.