Spring Framework
The Spring Framework is an application framework. It is an open-source framework that helps control containers for any Java application. This framework is helpful as it allows the users to build a robust infrastructure for the Java platform. The Spring Framework works under the license of Apache 2.0 and is hosted by SourceForge.
Advantages of Using Spring Framework
Most Java programs are complex and use heavyweight components. These heavyweight components often depend on the operating systems for their properties. Java programs usually need transaction management and security services to develop robust applications. Using Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), the users might get solutions to their problems. Still, it will require a great effort to develop Home and Remote Interfaces and implement lifecycle callback methods.
Therefore, the developers find all the solutions to such complex problems in Spring Framework. This framework is secure, flexible, and cost-efficient. It reduces application development time and provides efficient utilization of system resources. Spring uses AOP (Aspect-Oriented Programming), POJO (Plain Old Java Object), and DI (Dependency Injection) for the development of enterprise applications.
Spring Framework Features
The Spring Framework possesses some of the most prominent features, such as AOP, IoC, and transaction management. There are other crucial features that make this framework unique. The following are some of the basic features of the Spring Framework:
Data Access
The data access feature in this framework allows the developers to work with various persistence APIs. These APIs include Hibernate and JDBC. This feature helps develop a strong connection with the database and allows work with executions, closing database connections, and implementing transaction management.
IoC Container
This framework provides an IoC container, the core container. This container helps in providing object reference in a class using an IoC or DI pattern during runtime. This approach works as an alternative to the service locator pattern. This container works by assembling the code, which helps with configuration management.
Transaction Management
The Spring Framework helps transaction management without affecting the application’s code. Spring provides JTA (Java Transaction API) for global transaction management using the application server. Moreover, it helps manage the local transitions using JDO (Java Data Object), JDBC Hibernate, or any other data Access APIs.
MVC Framework
The MVC framework in Spring allows the developers to build applications on the MVC (Model View Controller) architecture. This MVC process sends all the user’s requests to the controller, which dispatches them to various related views, which means that these are directed to the respective JSP pages. The developers can easily integrate the form handling and validating features of the MVC with a wide range of technologies, including Velocity, FreeMarker, ISP, and Jasper Reports.
Web Service
The Spring Web Service provides an easy way to manage Web Service endpoints and definitions. The framework offers layer-based approaches manageable by XML (Extensible Markup Language) parsing. Moreover, the framework transmits income mapping of XML message requests to the object. Therefore, it allows the developers to distribute the object between two machines.
Moreover, the Spring framework has other essential features, such as TestContext, JDBC abstraction layer, and presentable UI.
Spring Boot
Spring Boot is an open-source Java framework that helps build complex applications and microservices. This framework helps in building production-ready and stand-alone web applications. The developers can create crucial web applications without requiring various configuration setups. It is a time and cost-efficient framework that allows the developers to quickly develop web applications by providing a production-ready environment.
Advantages of Using Spring Boot
Spring Boot provides a range of advantages when creating microservices for mobile and web applications. This framework is compatible with various embedded servlet containers. It uses Tomcat as the default servlet and can work with others, including Resin, Jetty, Wildfly, and Undertow, depending on the required functionalities. Therefore, Spring Boot proves to be a flexible framework regarding the choice of the embedded servlet.
Spring Boot helps developers save memory space on their devices by using the Boot Initializer to compile the source language. This bootstrapping helps in loading the applications quickly. The In-memory database and the embedded server help decrease the code needed for an application setup. Moreover, the framework offers the ability to skip any XML configuration, which helps reduce unnecessary steps during development. Another advantage of Spring Boot is that the WAR (Web Application Resource) files are not required for the development. Instead, the framework uses JAR to simplify the process.
Spring Boot Features
Spring Boot provides a wide range of features that differentiate it from other frameworks. Following are some of the primary Spring Boot features the developers can use to create a time, cost, and resource-efficient program:
Auto Configuration
Spring Boot provides the Autoconfiguration feature while creating a new project. This feature allows the developers to choose the required dependencies for their respective projects. The autoconfiguration feature then loads the specific default configurations regarding these dependencies. The developers can use EnableAutoConfiguratoin or SpringBootApplication annotations for using Autoconfiguration.
Spring Initializer
The Spring Initializer is a tool that helps to bootstrap the Spring Boot project. This feature helps create projects using cURL, Spring CLI, and various IDEs. The Spring Initializer provides a basic project structure for the developers to quickly write their code. The developers can select their required project, programming language, and dependencies. These dependencies include web, dev tools, actuator, and any other dependency of the developer’s choice.
Spring CLI
The developers can rapidly develop an application with the Spring Boot CLI (Command Line Interface). The developers can build their required code and execute the scripts without worrying about code reusability. Moreover, this feature helps use the initializer with simple commands to start the traditional Java development process.
Externalized Configurations
For the Spring Boot applications, often there are possible problems every time a change occurs. For example, the developers might have to move their configuration environment. This problem will require rebuilding and testing the application for all the environments. Moreover, the developers might require to redeploy the application after every change. The externalized configuration feature takes care of all these possible problems. This feature helps use the application code in all the external environments by externalizing the configurations. The developers can use the following files to externalize configurations:
- YAML files
- Environment variables
- Properties files.
Moreover, the users can analyze the log to debug the application. The developers can use the Actuator framework for inspecting the application’s health, info, metrics, and other variables that can affect the application’s smooth working.
