Application settings, Application resources or Registry?

[jmcilhinney]

So the best place to store a connection string is... The registry?

Is that supposed to be a joke?

The Registry should generally be avoided in .NET applications unless you have a specific need to use it.

Connection strings can be stored in the config file and encrypted if required.

Microsoft recommend against using the Registry because it is getting overloaded and has become unwieldy.

.NET has added the configuration system specifically for .NET apps to use to store configuration information.