diff --git a/inc/config.h b/inc/config.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8ba523
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inc/config.h
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <string>
+#include <map>
+
+namespace mrbesen {
+
+class Config {
+public:
+	class Section {
+	public:
+		template<typename T = const std::string*>
+		T get(const std::string& valueName) const;
+	private:
+		std::map<std::string, std::string> values;
+		friend class Config;
+	};
+
+	Config(const std::string& filename);
+	virtual ~Config();
+
+	bool loadConfig();
+	const Section* getSection(std::string sectionName) const;
+
+	template<typename T = const std::string*>
+	T get(const std::string& valueName) const;
+private:
+
+	std::string filename;
+
+	std::map<std::string, Section> sections;
+	Section main; // config values without a section
+
+	static const std::string SPLIT;
+};
+
+}
diff --git a/inc/files.h b/inc/files.h
index 1e8396b..4269235 100644
--- a/inc/files.h
+++ b/inc/files.h
@@ -24,13 +24,19 @@ enum class FileType : unsigned char {
 	//copied from dirent.h  -> see man readdir
 };
 
+//read through a file line by line call the callback with every line (without \n or \r) return true on sccess or false on error
+typedef std::function<void(const std::string&)> fileLineCallback;
+bool iterateFile(const std::string& filename, fileLineCallback clb, bool ignoreBlanks = true);
+bool iterateFile(std::istream& file, fileLineCallback clb, bool ignoreBlanks = true);
+
+//iterate over a folder
 typedef std::function<bool(const std::string&, FileType type)> fileNameFilter;
 typedef std::function<void(const std::string&, FileType type)> fileCallback;
 template<class Container>
 bool scan(const std::string& path, std::insert_iterator<Container> it, bool prefixdir = false, fileNameFilter fnf = fileNameFilter(nullptr));
 bool scan(const std::string& path, fileCallback clb, bool prefixdir = false, fileNameFilter fnf = fileNameFilter(nullptr));
 
-bool readFile(const std::string& name, std::ostream& output, unsigned int maxsize = 0); //reads file name and writes it line for line into output, it stops at maxsize (it might be a bit more, its not a hard limit - see it more as a hint), if maxsize is 0 it reads unlimited 
+bool readFile(const std::string& name, std::ostream& output, unsigned int maxsize = 0); //reads file name and writes it line for line into output, it stops at maxsize (it might be a bit more, its not a hard limit - see it more as a hint), if maxsize is 0 it reads unlimited
 bool readFile(int fd, std::ostream& output, unsigned int maxsize = 0);
 
 bool copy(int fd_from, int fd_to);
diff --git a/inc/util.h b/inc/util.h
index 49ea5be..089f8f3 100644
--- a/inc/util.h
+++ b/inc/util.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ bool removeStart(std::string& str, const std::string& start);
 bool insertEnd(std::string& str, const std::string& ending);
 bool insertStart(std::string& str, const std::string& start);
 
+// splits a string into components. It removes the token from the strings. Retunrs the Count of elements in the array after the function completes.
 unsigned int split(const std::string& str, const std::string& token, std::string* out, unsigned int count);
 
 bool trim(std::string& str, char c = ' '); //return true if the string was changed
diff --git a/src/config.cpp b/src/config.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a3c7fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include "files.h"
+#include "util.h"
+
+namespace mrbesen {
+
+const std::string Config::SPLIT = ".";
+
+
+template<>
+const std::string* Config::Section::get(const std::string& valueName) const {
+	auto it = values.find(valueName);
+	if(it == values.end()) return nullptr;
+
+	return &it->second;
+}
+
+template<typename T>
+T Config::Section::get(const std::string& valueName) const {
+	return (T) get<const std::string*>(valueName);
+}
+
+Config::Config(const std::string& filename) : filename(filename) {}
+
+Config::~Config() {}
+
+bool Config::loadConfig() {
+	main.values.clear();
+	sections.clear();
+
+	Config::Section* currentSection = &main;
+
+	files::iterateFile(filename, [this](const std::string& line){
+		if(line[0] == '#' || line[0] == ';') return;
+
+		if(line[0] == '[' && util::endsWith(line, "]")) {
+			std::string sectionName = line.substr(1, line.length()-2);
+			util::trim(sectionName);
+			if(sectionName.empty()) {
+				//currentSection = &main;
+				return;
+			}
+			//check for existing section
+			auto it = sections.find(sectionName);
+			if(it == sections.end()) {
+				//create new section
+				//TODO
+				sections.insert({sectionName, {}});
+			}
+		}
+
+		std::string split[2];
+		unsigned int spl = util::split(line, "=", split, 2);
+	}, true);
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+const Config::Section* Config::getSection(std::string sectionName) const {
+	util::removeEnd(sectionName, SPLIT);
+	if(sectionName.empty())
+		return &main;
+	auto it = sections.find(sectionName);
+	if(it == sections.end()) {
+		return nullptr;
+	}
+	return &it->second;
+
+}
+
+template<typename T>
+T Config::get(const std::string& valueName) const {
+	if(valueName.empty()) return nullptr;
+
+	std::string out[2];
+	unsigned int i = util::split(valueName, ".", out, 2);
+
+	if(i == 1) {
+		//main section
+		return main.get<T>(out[0]);
+	}
+	const Config::Section* sect = getSection(out[0]);
+	if(sect) return sect->get(out[1]);
+	return nullptr;
+}
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/files.cpp b/src/files.cpp
index dc7cf26..d1b7c05 100644
--- a/src/files.cpp
+++ b/src/files.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "files.h"
 
 #include <dirent.h>
+#include <fstream>
 #include <list>
 #include <set>
 
@@ -54,6 +55,28 @@ void mrbesen::files::extention(const std::string& path, std::string& ext) {
 	ext = filestr.substr(pos+1);
 }
 
+bool mrbesen::files::iterateFile(const std::string& filename, fileLineCallback clb, bool ignoreBlanks) {
+	std::ifstream fs(filename);
+	return iterateFile(fs, clb, ignoreBlanks);
+}
+
+bool mrbesen::files::iterateFile(std::istream& file, fileLineCallback clb, bool ignoreBlanks) {
+	if(!clb) return false;
+	if(!file) return false;
+
+	std::string line;
+	while(std::getline(file, line)) {
+		mrbesen::util::removeEnd(line, "\r");
+
+		if(ignoreBlanks && line.empty())
+			continue;
+
+		clb(line);
+	}
+
+	return true;
+}
+
 template<class Container>
 bool mrbesen::files::scan(const std::string& path, std::insert_iterator<Container> it, bool prefixdir, fileNameFilter fnf) {
 	return scan(path, [&](const std::string& p, FileType t){ it = p; }, prefixdir, fnf);
diff --git a/tests/filestests.cpp b/tests/filestests.cpp
index 377c5aa..b5a1c1c 100644
--- a/tests/filestests.cpp
+++ b/tests/filestests.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "files.h"
 #include "util.h"
 
+#include <fstream>
 #include <list>
 #include <set>
 #include <string>
@@ -12,6 +13,8 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 
+#define NONEXISTENT_FILE "tests/blabla.exe"
+
 using namespace mrbesen;
 
 int testFiles_parent() {
@@ -19,20 +22,20 @@ int testFiles_parent() {
 	std::string testpath1 = "/asdf1/asdf2/test.png";
 	
 	files::parent(testpath1, out);
-	ASSERT(out == "/asdf1/asdf2/", out);
+	CMPASSERT(out, "/asdf1/asdf2/");
 
 	files::parent(out, out2);
-	ASSERT(out2 == "/asdf1/", out2);
+	CMPASSERT(out2, "/asdf1/");
 
 	files::parent(out2, out);
-	ASSERT(out == "/", out);
+	CMPASSERT(out, "/");
 
 	testpath1 = "assets/tex/img1.png";
 	files::parent(testpath1, out);
-	ASSERT(out == "assets/tex/", out);
+	CMPASSERT(out, "assets/tex/");
 
 	files::parent("asd", out);
-	ASSERT(out == "", out);
+	CMPASSERT(out, "");
 
 	return TESTGOOD;
 }
@@ -110,6 +113,16 @@ int testFiles_extention() {
 }
 
 
+int testFiles_iterateFile() {
+	std::ifstream f1(NONEXISTENT_FILE);
+	ASSERT(!files::iterateFile(f1, [](const std::string&) {}), "");
+
+	//TODO: more tests
+
+	return TESTGOOD;
+}
+
+
 int testFiles_scan() {
 	std::string path = "./tests";
 	std::list<std::string> out, out2;
@@ -132,7 +145,7 @@ int testFiles_readFile() {
 
 	std::ostringstream buf;
 
-	ASSERT(!files::readFile("tests/blabla.exe", buf), "this file should not be read"); //try to read non existing file
+	ASSERT(!files::readFile(NONEXISTENT_FILE, buf), "this file should not be read"); //try to read non existing file
 
 	bool r = files::readFile(std::string("tests/filestests.cpp"), buf);
 	ASSERT(r, "failed to read");
diff --git a/tests/main.cpp b/tests/main.cpp
index a114124..7683e91 100644
--- a/tests/main.cpp
+++ b/tests/main.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 int testFiles_parent();
 int testFiles_file();
 int testFiles_extention();
+int testFiles_iterateFile();
 int testFiles_scan();
 int testFiles_readFile();
 
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ int testUtilSplit();
 
 int testGetDoy();
 
-test_t tests[] = {testFiles_parent, testFiles_file, testFiles_extention, testFiles_scan, testFiles_readFile,
+test_t tests[] = {testFiles_parent, testFiles_file, testFiles_extention, testFiles_iterateFile, testFiles_scan, testFiles_readFile,
 	testUtil_Count, testUtil_equalsIgnoreCase, testUtil_toLower, testUtil_start_endWith, testUtil_removeStart_End, testUtil_insertStart_End, testUtil_trim, testUtil_trimOnce, testUtil_base, testUtil_replace, testUtil_replace2,
 	testStringSpliterator, testUtilSplit,
 	testGetDoy,
diff --git a/tests/test.h b/tests/test.h
index 890d25b..c337abb 100644
--- a/tests/test.h
+++ b/tests/test.h
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 #define TESTDATA "./tests/data/"
 
 #define ASSERT(BED, ERR) if(!(BED)) { std::cout << __FILE__ << ":" << __LINE__ << "  " << ERR << std::endl; return TESTFAILED; }
+#define CMPASSERTE(A, B, ERR) if( !((A) == (B))) { std::cout << __FILE__ << ":" << __LINE__ << "  is: \"" << (A) << "\"   should: \"" << (B) << "\""<< std::endl; return TESTFAILED; }
+#define CMPASSERT(A, B) CMPASSERTE(A, B, "")
 // #define ASSERT(BED) ASSERT(BED, "")
 
 typedef int (*test_t)();