A fresh look at the Spring Framework

"The Spring Framework is possibly the most iconic software development framework of all time. It once suffered from a reputation of bloat, but it has long since shed that perception. In this article, we'll take fresh look at Spring, including an overview of Spring Boot and how Spring handles standard application needs like persistence and security. You'll also learn about newer features that modernize Spring, including its approach to developer experience, reactive programming, and cloud and serverless development."

"The heart of Spring is still the dependency injection (DI) engine, which is the killer feature that started it all. Also called inversion of control (IOC), dependency injection is a way of wiring together classes without explicitly writing the connective code in the classes themselves. In modern Spring, DI works by convention, with minimal intervention from the developer. Unlike in the past, there is usually little if any XML management involved."

The Spring Framework modernizes Java application development by combining a convention-based dependency injection engine with streamlined configuration and minimal XML. Spring Boot simplifies project setup and conventional wiring while Spring modules address persistence, security, reactive programming, cloud, and serverless needs. Dependency injection auto-wires beans via annotations and constructor injection to reduce boilerplate. Spring's modern features emphasize developer experience, reactive programming support for asynchronous workloads, and integrations that enable cloud-native and serverless deployments. Extensive auto-configuration and convention-over-configuration patterns minimize developer effort and reduce setup time. The framework retains power and simplicity while accommodating contemporary architectures and developer workflows.

Read at InfoWorld