ASP.net why is application settings string only?

Question

    <appSettings>
        <!-- Settings file for website! -->
        <add key="DefaultCookieExpiryMins" value="30" />
    </appSettings>

Why do I have to set everything as a string? Why can't I have different datatypes in there like int to help me stop having to cast everything?

Answer 1

This is why I prefer custom configuration sections over just putting key/value pairs in appSettings. See this MSDN article for more information on how to make your own configuration section. Once you have your own configuration section class, you should be able to access your settings as any data type you'd like.